Yannick Tremblay scored a power-play goal at 2:40 of overtime Monday night to lift the Thrashers to a 4-3 victory over New York, improving to 4-0-0 against the Rangers this season.
``We had a lot of opportunities to win the game,'' Rangers captain Mark Messier said. We threw a lot at them and should have been able to bury a few more chances.''
The Rangers trail the New York Islanders by three points with three games to play in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams play Tuesday night on Long Island, and an Islanders victory would eliminate the Rangers from playoff contention.
``We were just trying to knock the Rangers off,'' Atlanta's Marc Savard said. ``Tonight, we did it.''
Messier's 18th goal was one of three in the third period that enabled the Rangers to overcome a 2-0 deficit after two periods and force overtime, but Atlanta maintained its poise.
``The Rangers really came back in the third period and had shots down low,'' said Bob Hartley, who has coached Atlanta to a 17-13-5-1 record since taking over Jan. 14th.
``It's one of those games you would say is a character game for your team,'' Hartley said. ``It's a good learning experience when you're up two-zip after two. We knew the Rangers would come out real desperate and that they would throw everything at us. You have to give them credit. They came right back and fought.''
The Rangers began the third-period comeback with Boris Mironov's sixth of the season at 1:05.
Messier's goal at 2:53 tied the score 2-2. After Savard netted his second of the game and 17th of the season on a power play at 15:28, Petr Nedved tied it at 3-3 with his 26th at 16:19.
``I thought it was a great effort,'' said Rangers coach Glen Sather. ``They busted their rear ends - every one of them. We played hard. It was a good hockey game. It's too bad we couldn't win. We had six chances in the third period where the puck was bouncing all over the place and it just wouldn't go in.''
With New York's Eric Lindros in the penalty box for high-sticking during the overtime, Tremblay scored his seventh of the season with a shot from the slot that beat Mike Dunham.
``Right at the end we were able to control the puck pretty good and move the puck around,'' Tremblay said. ``We wanted to play like we were battling for a playoff spot.''
Atlanta tied the franchise's best unbeaten streak at four (3-0-1).
Savard extended his scoring streak to six games (five goals, six assists), matching his season high. Dany Heatley had three assists to extend his point streak to four games (three goals, seven assists). Heatley has 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in his past 24 games. Linemate Vyacheslav Kozlov also scored a goal and added three assists.
NOTES: Rangers D Sylvain Lefebvre sprained a ligament in his left knee in the first period and didn't return. ... Rangers forward Matthew Barnaby was presented with the Steven McDonald extra effort award. ... The Thrashers recalled D Kurtis Foster from Chicago of the AHL.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/4/181273