two of New York’s three first-period goals, and the Rangers gave their
tenuous playoff hopes a big boost with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto
Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
One night after a 5-2 loss at Buffalo
put their postseason chances in jeopardy, the Rangers stormed out and
seemed to take away the will of the Maple Leafs — the last-place team in
the Eastern Conference.
Christensen gave New York the lead 21
seconds in, then combined with Vinny Prospal for goals 30 seconds apart
that quickly put away the game. Although the Rangers wouldn’t have been
eliminated with a loss to Toronto, their realistic prospects for the
playoffs would have been all but dashed. But wins in their final two
games would get them into the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
Henrik Lundqvist bounced back from
being pulled from the loss Tuesday night, when he allowed three goals on
16 shots in less than two periods, and stopped 26 shots. Maple Leafs
defenseman Dion Phaneuf spoiled Lundqvist’s bid for his 25th NHL shutout
when he scored with 11:51 left.
Olli Jokinen bounced a shot in with
9:09 remaining, and Aaron Voros added a goal 1:44 later for the Rangers
to make it 5-1. New York is 6-1-1 in its last eight.
The Rangers, ninth in the East, trail
the Boston Bruins by one point, the No. 7 Philadelphia Flyers by two
points, and the No. 6 Montreal Canadiens by three. Those teams have two
games remaining, except for Boston, which will play three. The Rangers
and Flyers will conclude their seasons with a home-and-home series this
weekend — beginning Friday night at New York.
Toronto, which lost 2-0 to
Philadelphia on Tuesday in its final home game, didn’t appear to have
any jump or interest during the one-sided first period.
Christensen got the Rangers rolling.
Brandon Dubinsky fed a pass from behind the Toronto net out front to
Christensen, who jammed the puck between the pads of Jonas Gustavsson.
New York kept the pressure on
Gustavsson, who was why the Maple Leafs weren’t blown out early. The
Rangers built a 12-1 shots advantage and grabbed a 2-0 lead at 10:26
when Prospal followed up Jokinen’s breakaway chance with a rebound goal.
Gustavsson stopped Jokinen, and the
puck trickled near the left post toward Maple Leafs defenseman Francois
Beauchemin, who made little effort to clear it. Prospal streaked down
the middle and got to it — easily avoiding Beauchemin’s halfhearted
stick swipe — and knocked in his 20th goal.
Gustavsson slammed his stick on the
net in anger, skated to the blue line while the Rangers celebrated, and
then stomped his skates on his return to the crease.
It would soon get worse. Just seconds
after Prospal’s goal, Christensen netted his eighth of the season on
the following shot — giving the Rangers a 15-5 edge there — at 10:56.
Notes
Phaneuf scored his first goal
since in 24 games since being traded by Calgary to the Maple Leafs. …
Toronto, which owns the NHL’s worst power play, went 0-for-4 with the
advantage. The Maple Leafs have scored on just two of their last 52
chances over 13 games. … Voros has three goals in 39 games. …
Gustavsson finished with 27 saves.