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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning
did not play like teams out of the playoff chase.
Manny Malhotra scored with 1:37 left in overtime as the Rangers
beat the Lightning 4-3 Thursday night.
"I thought there was an awful a lot of emotion out there,"
Rangers coach Ron Low said. "It was a good hockey game. It was
really entertaining for the fans. I'm sure nobody left without
seeing a pretty good hockey game."
The Rangers rallied from three one-goal deficits in a game that
included four fights.
"There was some fights, there was some clean hitting, some
great goal scoring and some great goaltending from both guys,"
Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "So, at the end of the year,
two teams that are dying on the vine trying to end it, I thought it
was a very entertaining game."
Malhotra, moving down the left wing, took a pass from Petr
Nedved and got a shot off from close range despite being hit by
Tampa Bay defenseman Adrian Aucoin.
"It was just a very simple goal," Malhotra said. "I was
basically going to the net and trying to get a shot off and it
worked."
The game-winner came just after New York's Radek Dvorak caught
Brad Richards from behind, stopping a potential breakaway attempt.
"I think he got surprised," Dvorak said. "He didn't expect
anybody to catch him."
New York's Michal Grosek had tied the game at 3 with 8:08 left
in the third period.
"Everybody's just going out there, having some fun and playing
the game that we love to play, regardless of where you're at in the
standings," New York's Adam Graves said.
Martin St. Louis opened the scoring with a goal 1:05 into the
second period.
New York's Colin Forbes ended a 69-game scoring drought when he
tied the game at 1 at 6:06 of the first.
Ben Clymer's power-play goal at 16:11 of the second gave Tampa
Bay a 2-1 lead. The Rangers tied it on Dvorak's goal at 1:01 of the
third.
Vincent Lecavalier gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead just 24 seconds
later when he scored on a breakaway. He became the third player in
team history – joining Brian Bradley and John Cullen – to score 50
points in back-to-back seasons with an earlier assist.
Nikolai Khabibulin, acquired last month from Phoenix, faced 35
shots in his second game and first home contest for the Lightning.
He won his debut at Florida on March 30 after missing almost two
full NHL seasons because of a contract dispute with the Coyotes.
Richards, the rookie scoring leader, had two assists and raised
his point total to 61.
New York goalie Guy Hebert made 25 saves.
Game notes
Rangers C Mark Messier had an assist and extended his point
streak to six games. ... Lightning LW Fredrik Modin did not play
due to a hip injury. ... Forbes last scored on March 2,2000. ...
Tampa Bay recalled RW Dmitry Afanasenkov from Detroit of the IHL.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
NY Rangers Clubhouse
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 3
Florida 0
Detroit 4
Atlanta 0
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 2
NY Rangers 4
Tampa Bay 3
Nashville 4
Calgary 0
St. Louis 4
Columbus 1
Vancouver 3
Los Angeles 2
San Jose 3
Phoenix 0
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