Rangers Win. Penguins Lose. lead Back Up To 3 Points

Canada did the Rangers well Saturday night, as the Blue Shirts needed OT and the shoot-out to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Pittsburgh Penguins lost in Ottawa giving the Rangers back their 3-point cushion for the top spot in the East.

The Rangers beat the going-nowhere Leafs 4-3. Ryan Callahan scored the winner in the 3rd round of the shootout going high over the right shoulder of Leafs' Golie Jonas Gustavsson to win it for NY.

Marion Gaborik lit the lamp twice for the Rangers, his 36th and 37th of the season. Tim Erixon and Brad Richards had 2 helpers and Jon Mitchell, benched during the Sabres game Friday came back with a strong effort and a point to boot.

The Rangers big win combined with the Penguins getting hammered 8-4 in Ottawa Saturday night to boost the Rangers' lead back to 3 points over Pittsburgh. The victory also tied the Rangers with the idle St. Louis Blues with 101 points, tied for the NHL lead and the President's Cup as point leader for the regular season.

The Rangers victory starts a string of 3 straight on the road and 4 straight against non playoff teams at the present.

Brandon Dubinski was the lone other Ranger scorer Saturday night. The Rangers still haven't allowed 5 goals in the regular season all year. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 shots in the Toronto victory.

In Ottawa the Senators trailed Pittsburgh 2-1 after 1 then went on to outscore the Pens 7-2 over the final 2 stanzas to win easily. Daniel Alfredsson tallied 2 goals and 2 helpers for a 4-point night and hand the Guins their 1st regulation loss in 15 games dating back to a 2-0 shutout over the Rangers in Pittsburgh.

For the schedule watchers. Pittsburgh will host slumping New Jersey Sunday and the St. Louis Blues play in Phoenix Sunday night.