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BOX SCORE
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Montreal Canadiens finally got the owner
they've been looking for. The New York Rangers spoiled their party.
Petr Nedved had two goals and an assist and linemate Jan Hlavac
added a goal and two assists as the Rangers beat the Canadiens 4-2
on Wednesday night, just hours after hockey's most-storied franchise
was sold to an American owner.
|  | | Mike Richter, right, made 22 saves in the Rangers' win Wednesday night. |
In a matchup of struggling Original Six teams, Hlavac and Nedved
scored 12 minutes apart in the second period.
The Rangers, who snapped a four-game losing streak, are 10th in
the Eastern Conference, four points over 12th-place Montreal, which
lost for the third time in five games. New York's slide came right
after a five-game unbeaten streak.
"We just wanted to come out and play a complete game," Rangers
captain Mark Messier said. "I think we're disappointed we let
games slip away in this last 10-game stretch. That's the way it
goes. We stand where we stand now.
"We played a solid game tonight and the old saying goes,
`You're only as good as your last game.'"
The Canadiens, owners of 24 Stanley Cups, were sold to George
Gillett. He purchased 80.1 percent of the team for $183 million and
a promise the club will not be moved from Montreal.
"For us it's good news," coach Michel Therrien said.
The purchase from Molson Inc., also includes the Molson Centre,
the Canadiens' home arena. Therrien said the sale was a relief and
did not affect his club against New York.
"We're more than happy to get Mr. Gillett into ownership that
has so much passion for the game," Therrien said. "That was not a
distraction for the team."
Nedved completed a well-executed passing play with Hlavac and
Radek Dvorak to make it 3-1 with 3:03 left for New York, which also
broke a three-game losing run at home.
"It was a great pass by Devo and he gave me half a net empty,"
Nedved said. "There's such a fine line between shooting and making
a great pass. If you make the right pass it's great, if you don't
it's a bad play."
Montreal closed to 3-2 with 1:32 left on Trevor Linden's
power-play goal, but Rich Pilon's empty-net goal 26 seconds later
sealed the victory that snapped Montreal's two game-winning streak.
"They initiated more," Canadiens defenseman Eric Weinrich
said. "The last two games we tried to make the other team play our
style. Tonight they played their style."
New York failed on its only power-play opportunity and has
cashed in on only three of its last 81 chances, spanning 20 games.
The Rangers grabbed a rare 1-0 lead in the second period when
Hlavac tipped in Nedved's shot from the point for his 21st goal.
Nedved made it 2-0 when he scored his 15th goal after being set up
by Hlavac and Dvorak.
"We had very good chances in the first period, so we decided to
just put the puck on the net," Dvorak said. "The goalie was out a
little bit, so we just wanted to shoot from any position."
Sandy McCarthy set the tone for the Rangers with three hits on
one first-period shift. It was what they needed after a 7-2 home
drubbing by the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday.
"They were bigger and stronger than us," Therrien said. "When
teams get beat like they did to the Thrashers, they play hungrier
in the next game."
Montreal defenseman Stephane Robidas cut the deficit in half
with 8.7 seconds left in the period, scoring his third career goal
and first in 23 games. It came after a giveaway by Dvorak.
"It was a bad play by me," Dvorak said. "There were 10
seconds left, so that's always bad for the team. But then we
recovered and scored a huge goal in the third and finished it
off."
Mike Richter looked sharp in stopping 22 shots. Montreal's Jose
Theodore made 33 saves.
Game notes
Montreal leads the NHL in man-games lost to injury,
entering play with 328. The Canadiens were the NHL's leader last
season with 536. ... Rangers right wing Theo Fleury will start and
defenseman Brian Leetch is a reserve for North America in Sunday's
NHL All-Star game. The Canadiens are one of six teams without a
representative. ... Pilon, who went 246 games without a goal,
scored his second in his last three games. ... Messier assisted on
Pilon's goal for his first point in eight games.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Montreal Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
Canadiens sold to American, will stay in Montreal
RECAPS
Toronto 4
Carolina 3
Detroit 3
Columbus 2
NY Rangers 4
Montreal 2
Florida 5
Buffalo 2
NY Islanders 3
New Jersey 2
Philadelphia 5
Pittsburgh 1
Edmonton 3
Chicago 2
Nashville 3
Anaheim 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Jan Hlavac tips in the Petr Nedved shot for the early lead.
avi: 759 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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