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Sunday, Jan. 2 7:30pm ET
Rangers hold Habs to 2-2 tie | |||||
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MONTREAL (AP) -- Overtime is getting all too familiar for the New York Rangers. Sylvain Lefebvre scored 10:10 into the third period to lift the Rangers into a 2-2 tie with the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night -- sending New York into extra time for the ninth time in 12 games, including four straight. They have three wins and four ties over that span. "This could be a big point at the end of the season," coach John Muckler said. "There have been a lot of ties around the league lately. "Somewhere along the line, someone's going to miss the playoffs because they didn't get two points. You need all the points you can get now." Lefebvre tied it with a shot from the high slot between Jeff Hackett's pads, but the Rangers failed to win for a sixth consecutive game (0-2-3-1). Michael York scored in the first period for New York. Benoit Brunet scored a goal and helped set up one for Sergei Zholtok as the Canadiens' winless streak reached four games (0-1-3). "We dominated the third period," said Montreal coach Alain Vigneault, whose club outshot New York 12-5 in the third and 30-22 overall. "We could have won. "Our players had a lot of energy left, but the Rangers got one chance to score in the third period and they did." Both Original Six clubs wore their dark road jerseys for their first game of 2000, although officials told the Canadiens to switch their blue helmets to white after the first period to help tell them apart. The announced crowd of 20,266 saw the Rangers establish early control and go up 1-0 when York got his 11th goal -- tops among NHL rookies -- on a power play at 14:22. But three consecutive penalties -- including back-to-back infractions against Mathieu Schneider -- led to power play goals by Brunet at 19:13 and Zholtok during a two-man advantage 1:50 into the second frame. "We were outshooting them 9-3 until we took those penalties," Muckler said. "That turned the game around. "When you have a game under control, you don't want to do something that will change the momentum. It also disturbs the rotation of your lines and it's hard to get the flow back." "We need a win, no doubt," Rangers forward Theoren Fleury said. "I had a great chance in OT and the puck jumped over my stick and Yorkie hit a goal post. I think we had the two best chances in OT." Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois, with two assists, has 10 points in 10 games since returning from a back injury Dec. 7. Brisebois missed Montreal's last game of 1999, a 3-2 loss to Ottawa on Dec. 29, while his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter. Center Radek Dvorak was held scoreless in his first game since being acquired by the Rangers from Florida. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard NY Rangers Clubhouse Montreal Clubhouse RECAPS Philadelphia 4 NY Islanders 1
NY Rangers 2
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