Rangers forward Sean Avery hospitalized

From The AP:
"New York Rangers forward Sean Avery has been hospitalized after lacerating his spleen during a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In a statement Wednesday, the team said the noted agitator was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center after New York’s 5-3 loss Tuesday night and was admitted following a CT scan.

Avery, whose spleen was not removed and isn’t expected to need surgery, likely will be hospitalized for a few days, team spokesman John Rosasco said.

Michael Fagan, spokesman for St. Vincent’s Medical Center, said Avery is in “stable” condition.

Rosasco said it’s unclear when Avery was injured, but the forward complained during the game of pain that got worse. Shortly after the game, Avery went in a car from Madison Square Garden to the hospital with team physician Dr. Andrew Feldman.

“He walked into the hospital,” Rosasco said. “He was never in a life-threatening situation.”


Avery’s mother, Marlene, told the Toronto Sun that Avery’s spleen had not ruptured, but he had suffered internal bleeding.

The spleen is an organ about the size of a fist on the left side of the body, behind the stomach. It helps the body fight infection and filters the blood. A person can live without a spleen, although they lose some of their ability to fight infections.

The 28-year-old Avery will be out for the remainder of the season, the Rangers said, but is expected to make a full recovery.

New York trails Pittsburgh 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series and can be eliminated as early as Thursday night in Game 4 at the Garden. The Rangers went 33-14-10 with Avery in the lineup this season and 9-13-3 when he was sidelined with injuries.

Avery was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in February 2007 and sparked the team’s playoff run in which the Rangers went 17-6-6 in games he played following his arrival."

Pens put Rangers in 2-0 series hole

By The Associated Press

Jordan Staal's game-winning playoff goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins couldn't have made his parents much happier. Or sadder.
Staal's power-play goal in the second period broke a scoreless tie and Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made the lead stand up, giving the Penguins a 2-0 victory Sunday over New York Rangers and a home-ice sweep of the first two games of their second-round series.


Staal's goal came with older brother Marc, a Rangers defenseman on the ice, and was all the offensive support Fleury needed while making 26 saves. Fleury helped the Penguins kill off two key Rangers power plays in the final six-plus minutes before Adam Hall scored into an empty net with 16.7 seconds remaining.

Games 3 and 4 will be Tuesday and Thursday nights at Madison Square Garden, where Pittsburgh is 0-3-1 this season.

Staal's power-play goal at 13:55 of the second came with the Rangers' best penalty killer, Chris Drury, off for hooking. Evgeni Malkin gathered the puck in the left circle and, shedding Marc Staal, fed it down low to Jordan Staal, who shifted from his backhand to his forehand to lift the puck over goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

"He's a great passer," Jordan Staal said. "I'm just glad to be the finisher."

Did he realize who Malkin beat to get him the puck?

"Not really," Staal said. "It's all pretty much a blur out there."

Staal's game-winner no doubt delighted parents Linda and Henry Staal on their sod farm in Thunder Bay, Ontario, but also disappointed them. The Staals' parents decided not to attend the series because they knew one son would be disappointed when it ended.

Older brother Eric Staal of Carolina, a Stanley Cup winner two years ago, cut an NHL commercial in which he jokingly said the playoffs determine which son the Staals like best.

"That's a good question," Jordan Staal said, smiling. "I know they're cheering for a good game. This is tough for them, we know that, but it's part of the game."

Staal has played well in the playoffs so far after having a disappointing sophomore regular season, getting only 12 goals, none short-handed. He had 29 goals and an NHL rookie-record seven short-handed scores as an 18-year-old.

Lundqvist, a Vezina Trophy finalist, played a superlative game with 30 saves, several times making multiple stops with traffic in front of him and the Penguins pressing to take a lead they knew would put further pressure on the Rangers. New York now must sweep the two games at home to regain a tie in the series between Atlantic Division rivals.

"We just have to go back home and still feel confident, we know we can beat this team," Lundqvist said. "We have to go back home and get two wins there and come back here, and it's going to be pressure on them."

So far, it's the much younger Penguins who are standing up to the pressure of the playoffs, becoming the first team in franchise history to win its first six playoff games. The Penguins swept Ottawa in the first round.

"We haven't played our best hockey there (at Madison Square Garden), we know that," Jordan Staal said. "The way we're rolling right now, hopefully we'll be ready for it."

Sidney Crossly didn't score but again occupied the Rangers' attention at both ends of the ice, sometimes in a distracting way. Crosby drew the penalty that led to Malkin's deflected game-winning goal during Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory in Game 1 on Friday, causing some of the Rangers to accuse him of diving to set up the power play.

When Crosby went down again in the first period to draw another penalty, Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr - the former Penguins star - could be seen yelling at Crosby, "Stand up!"

Asked what he said to Crosby, Jagr said, "Just play hockey, that's all."

New York was 0-for-6 on the power play and is 1-for-9 in the series.

"We need a little more traffic (in front against Fleury)," coach Tom Renney said. "I'm not going to suggest it was really easy for him, but it certainly could have been tougher. The big thing for us is to create some momentum of our own at MSG and really take this series back."

Fleury bounced back from his worst game of these playoffs to play his best.

"As a goalie, it never feels good to give up four goals, so I wanted to come back and play a good game," he said.

Martin Straka shoveled the puck between Fleury's pads during New York's next-to-last power play, but referee Dan O'Halloran - who felt the puck had been covered - blew his whistle before it crossed the goal line.

"I thought it was an accurate call," Renney said. "I don't know if it was a quick whistle or not."


Notes
The Penguins are 8-2 in home playoff games against the Rangers. New York lost its previous three playoff series against Pittsburgh. ... Pittsburgh has at least one power-play goal in all six playoff games. ... The Penguins have won Game 2 in their last eight playoff series. ... The Rangers last came back from a 2-0 playoff deficit to win a series in 1996, taking the final four against Montreal.

Rangers blow three-goal lead against Pens

By The Associated Press
A memorable Pittsburgh comeback left the Penguins laughing at each other, an improbable victory accomplished. And left the New York Rangers, with their decided edge in experience, wondering how they possibly could lose such a big lead in such a big game.

Evgeni Malkin deflected Sidney Crosby's one-timer from the right point on a Pittsburgh power play with 1:41 remaining to finish a frantic comeback, and the Penguins rallied from a three-goal deficit against the Rangers for a 5-4 victory in their second-round playoff series opener Friday night.

Petr Sykora and Marian Hossa scored 20 seconds apart early in the third period during Pittsburgh's second such flurry of their rally, and the Penguins shook off Scott Gomez's tying goal midway through the period to win it.

"A game is never finished for us," Sykora said, referring to the Penguins' wealth of scorers. "We have the power to score to score a lot of goals here. It doesn't matter if we're down one, two, three goals."

The Rangers lost for the first time in four road games in these playoffs, an unexpected ending after they seized the momentum and, it seemed, control of the game with a 3-0 lead. But they couldn't have guessed the Penguins would twice score two goals in 20 seconds or less against a team known for its defensive commitment and patience.

"Pittsburgh isn't where they're at because they're a poor team and they don't know how to bounce back," coach Tom Renney said. "We were certainly aware of that - almost to a fault."

Just when it appeared the two Atlantic Division rivals were headed to overtime, one of the many former Penguins who played a key role in the game, Martin Straka, was called for interference with 3:20 remaining.

Crosby took Ryan Whitney's pass and, shooting beyond his normal range from beyond the right circle, put a slap shot on net that deflected off Malkin's shin guard for the Penguins' only power-play goal. The play was briefly reviewed to make sure Malkin didn't kick the puck into the net.

"I saw it was going wide and I reached for it and it hit Malkin's leg and went in," goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. "We just have to forget this. I don't want to think about it, I just want to move on."

Crosby doesn't own the best slap shot, so Malkin marveled at how he could take such a good one at such a key time.

"His slap shot is, uhh, not that good," Malkin said through an interpreter. "That shot he just put everything in it, all the motion, all the power and he shot that puck that hard."

So hard, they probably felt it in New York.

"(Ahead) 3-0 in the playoffs, you'd like to think it's over, but what are you going to do?" Gomez said. "We can't get in a track meet with those guys. It's over, there's nothing you can do about it."

Game 2 is Sunday in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins have won their last 11.

"That one hurts. I thought we had it," Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr said. "The second one is going to be even tougher, but we have to do it somehow."

The Rangers had tied it at 4 after Jagr - who won the Stanley Cup in his first two NHL seasons with Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992 - carried the puck behind the net, then threw it in front, missing Straka but finding Gomez for a one-timer.

Long before that, Jarkko Ruutu and Pascal Dupuis scored in a span of 14 seconds midway through the second period to get the Penguins back in it after the crafty, patient Rangers appeared to be in control.

"They maybe thought we were going to close the book right there, but we came back hard," Dupuis said.

In a game filled with fortuitous bounces and deflections on a poor ice surface in which nearly every goal ticked off a skate or took a lucky hop, the Rangers took their big lead on goals by Straka, Chris Drury and Sean Avery against Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Drury and Avery, the super pest who riled up the New Jersey Devils during the Rangers' five-game opening round series, scored 1:45 apart early in the second.

Former Penguins defenseman Michal Rozsival had three assists, and defenseman Marc Staal, brother of the Penguins' Jordan Staal, set up two goals. Jordan Staal also had an assist.

But as secure as that 3-0 lead must have looked to Rangers fans with Vezina Trophy finalist Lundqvist in net, the Penguins have the speed and the skill to get back in a game in a hurry. And they did.

"We don't want to behind like that, but we didn't quit and got some bounces and stayed with it," Crosby said. "A lot of goals went off guys. It was one of those weird games where pucks were bouncing everywhere."

Ruutu scored 8:13 into the second to give the white-wearing Penguins crowd its first bit of life since an early surge in which the Penguins had the first eight shots. It became a game again only 14 seconds later when Crosby stole the puck from Christian Backman and set up Dupuis for a one-timer from the left circle.

Hossa tied it early in the third on a goal that may have deflected off Gomez's skate, and Sykora got his fourth of the playoffs only 20 seconds later on a 3-on-2 break with Malkin and Ryan Malone.


Notes
The Penguins are 3-0 in playoff series against the Rangers, winning in 1989, 1992 and 1996. ... Pittsburgh won the first game in each of those series. ... Lundqvist is 12-7-3 against Pittsburgh in his career.

Ryder caps biggest comeback in Habs history

The Montreal Canadiens' fans were rewarded for their faithful support with the biggest comeback win in the storied team's history.
Michael Ryder and Alex Kovalev each scored twice and Montreal rallied from five goals down to beat the New York Rangers 6-5 in a shootout Tuesday night.


Saku Koivu beat Henrik Lundqvist with a forehand deke on the Canadiens' second shootout attempt and Cristobal Huet stopped Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr to the delight of the sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 21,273.

The Canadiens, who celebrate their centennial in 2009, stormed back from a 5-0 deficit early in the second with five unanswered goals.

"I don't think a lot of people expected it," said Ryder, who scored the first two of four straight even-strength goals by Montreal as the Canadiens pulled within one.

Kovalev, who scored Montreal's third goal 9 seconds before Mark Streit scored, rolled onto his back amid a wild ovation after he tied it with his team-leading 29th goal at 15:38.

"When I was laying down, I could see that there was nobody sitting," Kovalev said. "It's unbelievable. The fans have always been great to me. It definitely makes you give more back and I'm trying to play as hard as I can for them. A game like this, we just had to keep playing and you never know what will happen."

Shanahan scored twice to reach 20 goals for the 19th straight season and Jagr became the 10th leading scorer in NHL history with four assists to help stake the Rangers to their big lead.

Brandon Dubinsky and Sean Avery scored goals 14 seconds apart in the first, and Drury scored his 20th goal 28 seconds after Shanahan's second goal of the game to give New York a five-goal lead 5:03 into the second.

"We got caught on our heels and allowed them back into the hockey game," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "I give the Montreal fans a ton of credit. That's what you're supposed to do, you're behind your team and they did a great job of that and this hockey team, which is very dangerous, certainly fed off of that and took what we gave them."

Shanahan scored New York's third goal of the first period and the first of two power-play goals 28 seconds apart by the Rangers early in the second to extend the streak that he began in 1988-89 with 22 goals in his second season with New Jersey.

Ryder drew Montreal within 5-1 with his 10th goal at 8:28 before cutting the lead to three with his second in a row at 12:52.

The Canadiens struck for two goals 9 seconds apart to cut the lead to 5-4 just 6:52 into the third.

Dubinsky opened the scoring with his 11th goal 8:50 into the first period on a rink-length give-and-go play with Jagr off a turnover by Montreal in the Rangers' zone.

Jagr also had a hand on the Rangers' next goal as Avery put away a rebound of Carey Price's pad stop on Jagr shortly after the faceoff that followed Dubinsky's goal.

Shanahan chased Price, who allowed three goals on 11 shots, with his 19th goal at 13:56. He got his second of the game against Cristobal Huet 4:35 into the second with Chris Higgins serving a double minor for high-sticking.

Shanahan, who also played for St. Louis, Hartford and Detroit over the course of the streak, surpassed Marcel Dionne last season for sole possession of the second-longest streak in NHL history.

He trails only Gordie Howe, who scored at least 20 goals for 22 straight seasons with Detroit from 1949-50 to 1970-71.

"It shows a kind of consistency over a long period of time and a certain degree of luck in terms of health," Shanahan said. "It's company I'm certainly proud to be in."

Jagr moved ahead of Ray Bourque on the career points list with an assist on Shanahan's first goal before adding another on Shanahan's second of the game to finish the game with 1,581 points - nine behind Phil Esposito, who is ninth overall with 1,590.

The game was delayed for a few minutes with 2:36 remaining in the third when a few hundred "Go Habs Go" signs given away to the sold-out crowd of 21,273 by a hardware retailer rained down onto the ice after Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek was called for his second minor penalty in a row.


Notes
Dubinsky fought with Komisarek late in the first period. ... Price had won three straight starts, including back-to-back wins over Philadelphia on the weekend.