Rangers Surge Behind Balanced Scoring and Stalwart Defensemen

The Rangers enter Saturday night’s game in Montreal with a seven-game winning streak. Even after skating-intensive workouts, there were smiles in every corner of the Rangers’ practice facility this week.

“This has been a lot of fun because of the pride we put into each practice and each game as a team,” said defenseman Ryan McDonagh, an early-season standout. “We feel good about what we’ve accomplished because it hasn’t been our stars every night. Look around the room, and you’ll see everyone has contributed.”

Here are four keys to the Rangers’ winning streak.

Scoring Support

The Rangers’ highest-skilled and most compensated forwards — Marian Gaborik (4 goals, 3 assists) and Brad Richards (3 goals, 2 assists) — have been major factors in the run, but each was held off the scoresheet in three of the seven wins. The rest of team’s top six offensive forwards have stepped up: Ryan Callahan (5 goals, 3 assists), Derek Stepan (3 goals, 5 assists), Artem Anisimov (1 goal, 6 assists) and Brandon Dubinsky (1 goal, 5 assists).

“Confidence spreads through the team when so many guys are getting big goals,” Gaborik said. “We’ve had a different hero just about every night.”

The Rangers have out-scored their opponents, 27-11, over the seven wins.

“We’re making big plays at big times,” center Brian Boyle said.

In their most recent victory, a 4-2 win over the Islanders on Tuesday, Richards broke a 2-2 tie by converting a pass from Dubinsky with just under five minutes left in the third period. The Rangers’ nine game-winning goals this season have been scored by seven different players. Callahan and Richards lead the team with two each.

Standup Defense

The Rangers are without Marc Staal, their No. 1 defenseman, who remains sidelined with concussion symptoms. But two pairings of youngsters have embraced the responsibility of shutting down top lines. McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Michael Sauer and Michael Del Zotto are a combined plus-20 during the winning streak. Girardi has averaged 27 minutes 46 seconds of ice time, tops in the N.H.L. McDonagh, who averages just over 25 minutes a game, is 12th.

“With Marc out, we took it upon ourselves to do the job while he takes the times he needs,” McDonagh said.

McDonagh, 22, credits his playing time in the Rangers’ first-round playoff loss to Washington last April as the “wake-up call” for this season.

“In the good moments and bad ones, I learned a lot about a defenseman needs to do at this level,” he said.

McDonagh benefits by being paired with Girardi – at 27, the oldest and most accomplished of the group. The 21-year-old Del Zotto, a precocious puck carrier, is thriving alongside Sauer, a 6-foot-4 stay-at-home type. Coach John Tortorella said his team’s defense is the biggest factor in the Rangers’ knack for scoring clutch goals in close games.

“It’s our play away from the puck,” Tortorella continually stressed to reporters over the last week.

How each member of the blue-line quartet has improved over last season as measured by plus/minus per game:

Goaltending by Two

Henrik Lundqvist has a save percentage of .933, allowing just nine goals over his five wins in the streak. But his goaltending statistics are not even the best on his team. Martin Biron, his high-quality backup, shut out Winnipeg and gave up only two goals to San Jose in his pair of wins.

“Everyone knows Hank is one of the best goalies in the world,” Callahan said of Lundqvist, “but we have the luxury of two great goalies behind us. I don’t know how many teams can say they have the confidence in both our goalies like we do in Hank and Marty. We’ve made our share of mistakes in these games, and we really struggled early in the season. They’ve been our two of our most important players.”

There is an added benefit to Biron’s superb play. Lundqvist has played at least 68 games in each of the last five regular seasons. When the Rangers made the playoffs three of those years, he has not been fresh for the postseason. Tortorella’s trust in Biron should result in Lundqvist starting a more manageable 60 games.

Strong Work Habits

Despite the seven-game streak, the Rangers say it has been easy to stay humble.

“We want to get better each day,” Tortorella said of his team’s approach to practices.

Boyle said: “The good thing is, we’ve been far from perfect. So there’s been plenty for us to work on.”

After their victory Tuesday over the Islanders, the Rangers took one day to rest and then had two practices. Skills were sharpened in drills. Special teams play was adjusted. Line combinations, as always, were tinkered.

“Don’t get comfortable,” Tortorella said before his team left for Montreal. “We want our team to play the right way, and detail work is a part of it. To have a chance against Montreal, we’ll have to be better than we were against the Islanders.”

Metro Pucks: Rangers Win in Overtime; Isles Fall to Tampa Bay

Ryan McDonagh’s goal with two seconds left in overtime gave the Rangers a 3-2 win in Calgary on Thursday.

On the game-winning goal, Brandon Dubinsky kept the puck in the Flames’ zone in the final seconds and left it for Dan Girardi at the point. As Ryan Callahan screened Calgary goaltender Henrik Karlsson, Girardi shot wide of the net, but the puck bounced off the boards behind the goal and to the stick of McDonagh. He wristed the puck into a mostly uncovered goal just before the horn was about to sound.

“I knew there wasn’t a lot of time left, so I just tried to drill it home,” McDonagh said on the MSG Network broadcast after the game.

The Rangers had to kill a Calgary penalty in the final minutes of regulation when Jeff Woywitka, their new defenseman, inadvertently cleared the puck over the glass, resulting in a penalty for delay of game.

Before overtime, the Rangers and Flames scored all their goals in the first period. Marian Gaborik scored his fourth goal of the season to open the scoring. After Jarome Iginla, the Flames’ captain, tied the score, Brandon Prust gave New York a 2-1 lead at 13 minutes 42 seconds of the period.

Henrik Lundqvist showed some rare public frustration with a teammate after Mark Giordano scored on a snap shot soon after Prust’s goal. Just before Giordano prepared to shoot, McDonagh screened his goalie. Lundqvist was late to react on a shot he could not see. Although he was upset after the goal, Lundqvist did not allow Calgary to score for the remainder of regulation. He made 33 saves in the game’s 65 minutes.

The game was a return for Tim Erixon, the Flames’ first-round pick who declined to sign with Calgary, forcing a trade to the Rangers. Playing his fifth N.H.L. game Thursday, the 20-year-old defenseman was confronted by the Calgary news media after the Rangers’ morning workout about why he slighted the franchise.

“I had nothing against Calgary,” Erixon said. “I love the organization, and it’s a great city. Everybody was good to me. It was never about the money. There were just some small issues, and it’s in the past now.”

Asked to detail the issues, he declined to provide further details. “I really don’t think I have to explain myself,” he said. While he was booed by Calgary fans every time he carried the puck, Erixon played well in the game, especially during a pair of shifts in overtime.

While Comeau Sits Again, Isles Lose at Tampa Bay

The Islanders lost to Tampa Bay, 4-1, on Thursday, failing to sustain an offensive attack after dominating the Lightning in a victory in New York a week earlier.

“We didn’t skate in the first period,” Islanders Coach Jack Capuano said after the game. Tampa Bay “set the tone right away. Our line combinations, for whatever reason, couldn’t generate any offense. We weren’t able to establish our forecheck. They had more zone time than we did tonight.”

Although John Tavares created some scoring chances, the Islanders’ first line was held scoreless after dominating performances in the team’s last two games — wins over Tampa Bay and the Rangers. The Islanders’ only goal, by Michael Grabner, came in the third period after they were trailing, 3-0.

Asked about the possibility of altering some of his forward lines, Capuano said: “Yeah, I think there’s a good chance of that happening. Some guys deserve more of an opportunity. But there’s nothing to panic about yet.

The Islanders have a minor lineup controversy. The last two games, the team has scratched Blake Comeau, a third-line wing who scored 24 goals last season. In an early-season stretch in which the Islanders have received little offense outside of their first line, the benching of Comeau is suspicious.

Capuano’s non-responses to requests for an explanation have not clarified the Comeau matter. The coach has said his lineup decision is between him and the player, but Comeau said he has not received an explanation. Capuano is so mum on the issue, he has declined to even rule out that Comeau is being disciplined for an off-ice matter. All the secrecy has done is throw mud on Comeau and limit his trade value. With a surplus of skilled forwards, General Manager Garth Snow could make a move to fill his team’s biggest need, a regular shift defenseman.

The Islanders and Comeau agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract this summer before a scheduled arbitration hearing. As Comeau sat in the press box in Tampa Bay, Capuano played the enforcer Trevor Gillies for a total of 3 minutes 14 seconds. If the coaching staff plays him, the Islanders can probably count on an angry and motivated Comeau when they visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday.