After Honoring Lundqvist, the Rangers Rally for an Important Victory

The Rangers overcame two deficits, illness and a slow start and registered an important 4-3 overtime victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, after holding a pregame ceremony for Henrik Lundqvist.

Ryan McDonagh scored the winning goal 1 minute 56 seconds into the extra session after Dan Girardi tied the game on a tip-in goal with 3:18 left in regulation.

The victory vaulted the Rangers into second place in the Metropolitan Division over the Philadelphia Flyers, who lost to Los Angeles and visit the Garden on Wednesday night.

Before the game, the Rangers saluted Lundqvist, who over the previous five days set club records for career victories (302) and shutouts (50).

Lundqvist was joined by his parents, wife and 1-year-old daughter at one end of the rink, along with Mike Richter, whose club win record he broke Tuesday against Ottawa. He broke Ed Giacomin's club shutout record Sunday against the Devils. Highlights were shown on the scoreboard screen.

The Rangers' three alternate captains - Girardi, Brad Richards and Marc Staal - presented him with a custom-made Les Paul electric guitar. There were no speeches.

When the game began, the Rangers looked flat. They allowed a power-play goal at 4:40, only the second they had yielded in 12 games, when Oliver Ekman-Larsson barged in on the right wing and beat Lundqvist high on the short side. At 8:22, the Coyotes went ahead by 2-0 when the former Ranger Jeff Halpern was left alone in front and buried a centering pass.

The Rangers bounced back in the second period on goals from Richards on a tip-in and from Derick Brassard on a sharp-angle shot from one knee.

But they fell behind again at 16:51 when Chris Kreider, who was backchecking on a Coyotes rush, accidentally tipped a Phoenix centering pass between Lundqvist's legs. Kyle Chipchura received credit for the goal.

In the third period, the Rangers were helped by the Coyotes' misfortune when goalie Mike Smith was injured and had to leave with 7:34 left after Brassard fell on Smith's right leg. Smith had stopped 25 of 27 shots.

Thomas Greiss came in and looked unready, finishing with seven saves on nine shots.

The Rangers also won despite flulike symptoms that hampered Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis, especially in the third period and during overtime. Earlier Monday, Lundqvist was named the N.H.L.'s second star of the week for winning all three games he played while logging a 1.67 goals-against average, a .942 save percentage and one shutout.

Lundqvist started the season with some of the worst performances of his N.H.L. career, registering a dismal .889 save percentage in October, starting with an opening-night loss at Phoenix, but he slowly got his game back. The turning point seemed to come on a New Year's road trip to Florida, Dec. 29 and 31, when he stopped 37 shots in a 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay and 21 shots in a 2-1 shootout win over Florida.

Before Dec. 29, Lundqvist's save percentage was still a poor. 905 and his record was 10-15-2. But from Dec. 29 to Monday's game, his save percentage was .931 - a figure that would be No. 2 in the N.H.L. if it were his mark for the season - and he had gone 18-7-2.

With Lundqvist's revival, the Rangers' season turned a corner. Before Dec. 29, they were 18-19-2 and in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. Since then, they are 22-10-2, and, after Monday's stirring victory, in a much better place.

SLAP SHOTS

Raphael Diaz, a right-handed defenseman acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline, skated in his second game with the Rangers on Monday, this time at left defense, a position he had seldom played. He looked a bit unsteady at first but seemed to grow more comfortable as the game went on. In his Rangers debut Saturday at New Jersey, Diaz played right defense. He played both games in place of John Moore, who experienced concussion symptoms after taking a hit Friday at Columbus. Coach Alain Vigneault said Moore was feeling better but was still following the concussion protocol.

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