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Zherdev's late goal lifts Rangers over Bruins

Mar 8, 2009 - 8:40 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Nikolai Zherdev scored the tie-breaking goal with 6:22 remaining in the third period as the New York Rangers edged the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Sunday for their third straight victory.

The goal came following an end-to-end rush by defenseman Marc Staal, whose shot went wide. But the puck caromed off the back boards and into the slot where Zherdev fired it into an open net.

"We're trying to put more responsibility on (Staal)," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "I think he has a chance to be one helluva hockey player. We want (rushing the puck) to be part of his game and we want it now."

"I want to be better at carrying it up (ice) and making plays," Staal added. "I ended up missing the net and it worked out pretty well."

Nik Antropov had two points, including his first goal since being acquired by the Rangers to open the scoring 3:01 into the second. Scott Gomez and Ryan Callahan also scored in the second period to give New York a 3-1 lead.

However, the Rangers were back on their heels for most of the third period after quickly squandering the lead. Boston's Zdeno Chara and Michael Ryder tallied 1:37 apart early in the third to tie it.

"We just got tentative," Tortorella added. "We were tentative but we still found a way to win. We kind of wet our pants a little bit and had that look. We bent and we struggled but we still found a way to win."

The Rangers have their first three-game winning streak since January 10-16 and points in four of their first five games under their new coach (3-1-1).

Their offense has come to life under Tortorella with 14 goals during the winning streak. They entered Sunday still last in the NHL in scoring, averaging only 2.37 goals per game.

Since Tortorella took over for the fired Tom Renney, the Rangers' dormant also power play has shown improvement, registering five goals since the coaching change. Gomez scored with the man advantage Sunday.

In addition, the Rangers are getting more traffic in front of the net. Gomez followed up his own rebound to give New York a 2-1 lead with 7:48 left in the second and Callahan pounced on a loose puck in the crease just over four minutes later.

But Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi took a costly penalty with just two seconds left in the second when he got his stick high and clipped Ryder in the face for a four-minute minor. It led to Ryder's tying goal on the power play 3:47 into the third.