Petr Sykora had a goal and assist in his Rangers debut, and Jason Ward snapped a third-period tie to lift New York to a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames last night.

Ward gave the Rangers their first lead at 5:37 when he took a pass from Ville Nieminen and scored into an open net as goalie Miikka Kiprusoff tried to get back in position. Dominic Moore added an empty-net goal with 37.5 seconds remaining.

Sykora, acquired Sunday from Anaheim, made an immediate impact in his return to the Atlantic Division. He had only seven goals and 20 points with the Mighty Ducks in 34 games but needed just 32 minutes to net two points with the Rangers.

New York rallied in the hard-hitting game for its second straight victory after three straight overtime losses.

Rookie defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Rhett Warrener scored 38 seconds apart in the first period to give Calgary a 2-0 lead in the only meeting between the teams.

After Henrik Lundqvist make a big save to stop Jarome Iginla following a pretty setup by Tony Amonte, the Rangers cut the deficit in half on the ensuing trip up ice. Sykora made a pass from the goal line into the slot to Martin Straka, who ripped a shot past Kiprusoff at 5:03 – two seconds after their power play expired.

Sykora used Phaneuf to tie it. Again, the former Devils star, positioned himself along the Calgary goal line. He attempted another centering pass that struck Phaneuf and ricocheted into the net to make it 2-2 with 7:51 remaining in the second period.

Lundqvist, coming off his second shutout of the season in the Rangers’ 4-0 win Saturday over Florida,was sharp after the rocky first period, finishing with 19 saves. He made several good stops during the Flames’ late second-period power play after the Rangers tied it.