Rangers lose second straight at MSG

You wouldn't necessarily call a 3-3 game in the third period a goaltenders' duel, but Henrik Lundqvist and the Hurricananes' Cam Ward were outstanding Friday night.

In the end, Ward was just a bit better.

Despite a season-high 43 shots on goal, the Rangers (4-4-1) lost their second straight at Madison Square Garden, 4-3, on a power-play goal by Erik Cole with 3:59 left in the third period.

"Very disappointing," said Lundqvist, who made 34 saves, including 17 in the third period. "There were a lot of chances both ways. Their power play was pretty good. They threw a lot of pucks on the net."

After Brian Boyle went off for hooking at 14:28 of the third in a 3-3 tie, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky had a two-on-one, but Ward stopped Callahan. Then Cole, left alone in front, buried the winner.

Callahan said of the missed chance: "I looked at Dubi and it looked like the defenseman was playing him pretty hard. I tried to take a good shot and he made a good save on me. Unfortunately, they come back down and score, so it's a little more frustrating that it didn't go in."

The Rangers, now 1-3-1 at home, left for their third game against the Leafs this month on Saturday in Toronto.

To be sure, the Blueshirts had their chances in the third.

With the score 3-3, Jay Harrison tripped Brandon Prust at 5:48 and the Rangers had their fifth power play, having scored on two of the previous four. But Ward stoned Prust and then made a better save with his right pad to turn away Derek Stepan from the right side.

Down 2-0 early in the second on 18-year-old Jeff Skinner's goal at 58 seconds, the Rangers fought back. Callahan batted down a bouncing puck on the doorstep at 4:06, his third goal in three games, and Marc Staal, cheating in off the left point on another power play (with Tuomo Ruutu off for a slash), took a pass from Erik Christensen and beat Ward with a shortside wrister at 12:24.

The tie didn't last long. A misplay at the Rangers' blue line by Staal and Michal Rozsival led to a Skinner breakaway. He waited out Lundqvist and flipped in a backhander at 13:19 to restore the Hurricanes' lead. Skinner, chosen seventh overall in the June draft, also had an assist on the winner and was named the game's first star.

The Rangers rallied to tie it for a second time late in the second period. A long cross-ice pass from Callahan freed Dubinsky, who ripped a high wrister from 18 feet that banged in off the crossbar at 15:43 for his team-leading fifth goal. The Rangers outshot Carolina 18-8 in the second period.

In the first, the Rangers got the puck past Ward in 58 seconds. Unfortunately for the home team, it clearly was kicked in during a scrum by Michael Del Zotto, who later had his rising shot tipped away by Ward's glove. Staal, coming off a subpar game Wednesday, hit the crossbar. And Alex Frolov, alone in front after Stepan curled down the right side and behind the net, was robbed by Ward, who stopped his wrist shot.

Carolina struck for the only goal of the first period. With Steve Eminger off for interference at 13:44, Ruutu deflected an Anton Babchuk shot from the right circle and put the rebound past a reaching Lundqvist for the 1-0 lead.