New York, NY (Sports Network) - The New York Rangers killed off five power
plays, including a two-man advantage in overtime before Rick Nash was credited
with the winning shootout tally in a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Ryan Callahan followed Nash's backhander in the shootout by beating Ryan
Miller with a fancy deke, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped both skaters he faced
in sealing New York's second straight win following a four-game skid.
Nash and Derek Stepan each scored on the power play after Patrick Kaleta's
vicious hit on Brad Richards resulted in a major for hitting from behind plus
a game misconduct.
Lundqvist finished with 28 saves and Miller countered with 26.
Nathan Gerbe scored a short-handed goal and Drew Stafford had the game's only
even-strength tally, as the Sabres had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Jason Pominville and Tyler Ennis each missed their chances in the shootout.
Buffalo had four shots in a scoreless first period, but more than triple that
with 14 in the middle stanza. One hit the back of the net, as Stafford's
wrister from Mikhail Grigorenko's faceoff win beat a screened Lundqvist at the
8:04 mark.
A silence fell over Madison Square Garden early in the third when Kaleta
cross-checked Richards from behind. Richards was in a kneeling position facing
the dasher attempting to clear a loose puck and scarily went head-first into
the boards and was on the ice for several minutes.
Luckily, Richards was back on the ice several shifts later, and the Rangers
capitalized on Kaleta's infraction. New York was already on the advantage
prior to the five-minute penalty and scored seven seconds into the 5-on-3
when Stepan cashed in from the left doorstep at the 3:35 mark.
Forty-three seconds later New York went ahead, as more crisp passing ended
with Nash wristing one from the right circle that passed between Miller's left
arm and body
The crowd's excitement over the sudden reversal was quelled at the tail of the
power play when Steve Ott stick-handled through the defense to set up Gerbe's
tying goal at 8:19.
Nash took two penalties in the third period, the second coming with 33.5
seconds left in regulation. The Sabres were rewarded with a two-man advantage
after Dan Girardi was whistled for boarding 54 seconds into the extra session,
but the visitors were unable to capitalize.
Game Notes
The Sabres were without leading scorer Thomas Vanek due to an upper-body
injury for the second straight game ... The Rangers' penalty kill is 32-of-34
(94.1 percent) in the last 11 games ... Buffalo was 3-0 in the shootout coming
in ... The Rangers improved to 2-7-1 when trailing after two periods ... Nash
extended his point streak to six games.
The Sports Network