Rangers’ Late Comeback Falls Short
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Daniel Alfredsson gave Ottawa a five-goal lead early in the third period and the Senators then held off New York’s furious rally to beat the Rangers 6–4 last night.
Just two nights after a lackluster 5–3 home loss to the Islanders that caused a rare postgame rant from coach Tom Renney, the Rangers fell behind 5–0 early in the third period.
Ray Emery and the Senators were cruising when Alfredsson’s goal at 1:02 of the third sent many Rangers fans home early. They missed a lot. This one wasn’t settled until Dany Heatley’s emptynet goal with 34 seconds left. Emery, 6–1–1 in his past eight starts, allowed only 13 goals in that span before the Rangers broke out with four in 7:10.
Petr Prucha netted the first, drawing sarcastic cheers at 3:29. Jason Ward followed 45 seconds later, and when Marcel Hossa cut the deficit to 5–3 at 6:20, Madison Square Garden was solidly behind the home team. Blair Betts’ then deflected Jed Ortmeyer’s shot past Emery at 10:39 to send fans into a frenzy.
