Up by 3, Rangers find a way to lose

For a while, it seemed that New York Rangers coach John Tortorella's line-juggling with his two biggest stars would produce his team's first win at refurbished Madison Square Garden.

Then in a span of less than eight minutes, nothing worked for the Rangers. First the momentum was gone, then the lead, and then a shot at an important second standings point.

Jason Spezza scored twice, Milan Michalek capped the Ottawa Senators' three-goal comeback in the third period by netting the only goal in the shootout, and the Senators beat the Rangers, 5-4, on Saturday to stretch their winning streak to five.

Tortorella broke up his top line that featured Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik and got positive results. Richards scored twice, off assists from Gaborik when they spent brief moments together, and added an assist. Gaborik had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who led, 4-1, with 11 minutes, 55 seconds left.

Spezza started the rally with an even-strength goal and a power-play tally 3:31 later after Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson was injured when New York's Wojtek Wolski bumped him - seemingly by accident - and was whistled for an illegal head check.

That set the stage for Michalek's tying goal with 2:50 left that sucked the life out of a crowd that was poised for celebration moments earlier. New York won three of four after an 0-1-2 start, but has earned only one point in two home games since.

Elsewhere: Vernon Fiddler scored the go-ahead goal on a fortunate bounce with 7:26 remaining to send the Dallas Stars to a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, who closed a 1-3 road trip. . . . Phil Kessel scored his league-leading 10th goal midway through the third period to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. Mikhail Grabovski, Tim Connolly, and Clarke MacArthur also scored for the Maple Leafs (7-2-1).

Jason Garrison's goal snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the host Buffalo Sabres. Marcel Goc and Tomas Fleischmann also scored, and Jose Theodore made 24 saves for the Panthers (6-4-0), who won for the third time in their past four games. . . . Brian Gionta and David Desharnais scored power-play goals, and Carey Price made 26 saves as the Montreal Canadiens extended their winning streak to three with a 4-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins.

Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves in his 29th career shutout, Vincent Lecavalier scored a power-play goal late in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets, 1-0, in Tampa, Fla. . . . The San Jose Sharks came away with a 3-2 decision over the New York Islanders as Brent Burns scored a power-play goal 1:07 into overtime with a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.

Same old Carcillo

- Inquirer wire services