NEW YORK – Tyler Bozak scored on a penalty shot and then got the winning goal 1:51 into overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday night, spoiling the New York debut of Martin St. Louis.
Bozak got to a loose puck in front that bounced past Rangers defencemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh and slammed a shot past Henrik Lundqvist to snap the Maple Leafs’ three-game losing streak (0-1-2) and stretch New York’s skid to three (0-2-1).
Toronto built a 2-0 lead on Bozak’s second-period goal and Nazem Kadri’s tally in the third. The Rangers tied it on short-handed goals by McDonagh and Dominic Moore 1:19 apart.
Lundqvist bounced back from two straight losses in which he gave up 10 goals, and finished with 26 saves. Toronto’s Jonathan Bernier had dropped two straight after regulation – allowing nine goals in the process – before sitting out Monday’s loss against Columbus. He stopped 35 shots.
The Rangers got even by scoring twice on the first power play they gave up in two games.
McDonagh made it 2-1 at 5:34 with his 10th goal, and Moore tied it when he finished a 2-on-1 rush with Derek Stepan. It was the second time in four games Toronto allowed two short-handed goals on one power play.
It wasn’t enough to make St. Louis a winner in his first Rangers game.
St. Louis was acquired Wednesday morning from Tampa Bay in the rare swap of team captains that sent New York’s Ryan Callahan to the Lightning. St. Louis, whose jersey was flying off the racks in the team store at Madison Square Garden before the game, got the chance to wear his own just hours after being dealt.
Just after Toronto killed a power play that carried over from the first period, James van Riemsdyk came out of the penalty box and sent Bozak in on a breakaway. Rangers defenceman John Moore hounded him from behind with his stick and prevented Bozak from getting a clean shot away. However, Bozak was awarded with a penalty shot at 1:44.
Bozak skated in on Lundqvist, who came way out above his crease, and found space between his pads to score his 13th goal of the season on his first career penalty shot.
The Maple Leafs’ next best scoring chance didn’t register on the shot board as defenceman Jake Gardiner’s drive struck the crossbar and then the right post before bounding away. It was originally ruled a goal on the ice, but that call was overturned by video replay.
Toronto managed only five shots in the second period, compared to nine for New York.
The Maple Leafs doubled their lead at 2:00 of the third when Kadri steered in the rebound of Nikolai Kulemin’s shot.
St. Louis got a nice ovation when he hopped over the boards for his first shift 38 seconds in, and created a surge of excitement when he fired a hard shot on goal from the top edge of the left circle.
Bernier was sharp and stood tall following a handful of miscues by teammates in front of him, stopping 12 shots in the first period.
Lundqvist was just as solid at the other end, denying all 11 Toronto shots that came his way.
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