Rangers beat Hurricanes in shootout to end skid

NEW YORK – Rick Nash and J.T. Miller scored in the shootout to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Nash used his long reach to beat Dan Ellis in the opening round of the tiebreaker, and Miller ended the game in the third round by going wide after fumbling the puck and lifting a shot over Ellis. Henrik Lundqvist stopped Jiri Tlusty and Alexander Semin for his 44th shootout victory, the most by any goaltender in the history of the tiebreaker.

The win snapped the Rangers' three-game losing streak and pulled them within two points of eighth-place New Jersey in the Eastern Conference -- they play the Devils in Newark on Tuesday. The Hurricanes have lost three straight.

Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh had a chance to win it on the first shift of overtime, but was unable to hit the top part of the net from in tight with Ellis down.

Both goaltenders played very well, as Lundqvist stopped 29 shots for the Rangers and Ellis made 35 saves, including a breakaway stop on Nash in the second period. He also stopped five shots in overtime.

Derek Stepan of the Rangers and Eric Staal of the Hurricanes had the game’s regulation goals.

The Hurricanes dominated territorially in the first period, outshooting the Rangers 14-6. It appeared the Rangers would get through the period unscathed, but Staal capitalized in the final minute to Carolina ahead 1-0.

Defenseman Joni Pitkanen made a pass from the top of the zone to the bottom of the right circle, and Staal as was able to squeeze his shot past Lundqvist. Nash, who along with linemates Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik was on the ice for a shift that lasted in excess of a minute, nearly got his stick on the pass but was unable to break up the feed to Staal.

The Rangers turned the tables in the second period, abandoning their passive style in the neutral zone and using the forecheck to generate more offense and outshooting Carolina 14-4.

Even with that dominance, it took a save from Lundqvist to set up the Rangers’ tying goal.

Hurricanes forward Riley Nash had a chance to make it 2-0 from point-blank range, but Lundqvist go this left pad on the shot. Twenty-one seconds later, Stepan made it 1-1with his eighth goal of the season.

Stepan slammed home the rebound of a shot by Callahan, who knocked over Ellis as he was coming through the crease. But Pitkanen helped push Callahan into the path of Ellis, so the goal at 11:06 was allowed to stand.

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