Marcel Hossa scored two more goals for the Rangers, who shook off trades and injuries to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4–0 last night.

Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves in his third shutout this season and fifth in two seasons. His best stop came in the first period when he turned aside Michael Ryder on a breakaway out of the penalty box.

Hossa found the net twice in the second period, giving the emerging left winger eight goals in 11 games. Playing on a line with captain Jaromir Jagr and Michael Nylander, in the absence of injured forwards Martin Straka and Brendan Shanahan, Hossa matched his career high of 10 goals set last season.

Jagr scored his second powerplay goal in two games to give the Rangers a much-needed win. New York began the night tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference, seven points and three places below the playoff cutoff.

Matt Cullen’s empty-netter, with an assist from Hossa, sealed it with just under a minute left.

The Rangers moved within six points of the Canadiens, who entered yesterday with a hold on seventh in the tight race for the playoffs. Montreal had won four of five.

Jarkko Immonen, recalled before the game to help offset the loss of Straka, helped set up Hossa’s first goal. That sent the Rangers on the way to their fifth win in 10 games (5–3–2) despite a makeshift lineup following trades earlier yesterday that removed defenseman Aaron Ward and Pascal Dupuis from the team.

It was a good bounce-back effort for New York, which gave up two short-handed goals in a 3–2 loss to Columbus on Saturday night after jumping out to a two-goal advantage.

The Rangers got in front of Montreal and 21-year-old goalie Jaroslav Halak and kept the Canadiens at bay.

Halak, filling in for injured regular Cristobal Huet, looked sharp in killing Ryder’s tripping penalty but a tough bounce put Montreal in a hole as Ryder served a hooking infraction moments later.

Jagr swung around defenseman Francis Bouillon low in the right circle and slinged a shot that clipped the butt end of Halak’s stick and bounced in for a 1–0 New York lead.

Hossa scored twice in a 6:12 span, giving him his second multi-goal game in the NHL. He took a pass from Immonen near the left post and beat Halak at 9:32 during a power play. He made it 3–0 after Jagr’s behind-the-back pass hit the skate of Rangers defenseman Marek Malik. Hossa cut around defenseman Mathieu Dandenault and scored with 4:16 left in the period.

Fans chanted his name in the final minute, hoping for a hat-trick goal into the empty net.

Halak stopped 23 shots as he made his fifth start in six games since debuting in the NHL. He lost his second straight after three consecutive wins.

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DEVILS 1, PENGUINS 0 Martin Brodeur made 31 saves for his league-leading 12th shutout of the season and Jamie Langenbrunner scored as the Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 1–0 last night.

Brodeur set a new career-high for shutouts in a season with the 92nd of his career. He’s third on the career list, two behind George Hainesworth and 11 behind leader Terry Sawchuk.

It was the second time this season Brodeur blanked the Penguins, who fell 11 points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Devils by losing for the third time in four outings since having a 16-game point streak snapped.

New Jersey completed a 10–3 February with the victory, which fell on the day of the NHL’s trade deadline.