Markus Naslund scored on a stellar individual effort to snap a tie 4:56 into the third period and Kirk McLean made 34 saves to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
With the game tied 2-2, Naslund skated into the New York zone down the left side. He moved through the faceoff circle and undressed defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev before whipping a backhander between the pads of goaltender Mike Richter for his fifth goal of the season.
The Rangers pulled Richter for an extra attacker with 30 seconds remaining and had pressure in the Vancouver zone but couldn't beat McLean, who stopped a three-shot flurry with 20 seconds left. He also made a save on Mark Messier with 11 seconds to play.
Mike Sillinger and Bret Hedican also scored for Vancouver, which snapped a seven-game regular-season winless streak in New York (0-6-1) dating to February 21st, 1988. The Canucks won twice at Madison Square Garden during the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.
Wayne Gretzky and Brian Leetch scored for the Rangers, who are 0-3-1 in their last four games following a four-game unbeaten streak.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Mike Richter
2. Trevor Linden
3. Kirk McLean
Get your own Free Home Page