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  Tuesday, Dec. 28 10:00pm ET
Rangers come back for tie on road
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

PHOENIX (AP) -- With Sean Burke hurt and Nikolai Khabibulin embroiled in a bitter contract fight, Phoenix's goalie chores fall to journeyman Bob Essensa.

And he's never been better.

Essensa made 35 saves for the second straight game as the Coyotes salvaged a 2-2 tie Tuesday night with the New York Rangers.

"He's in a zone right now," Phoenix coach Bobby Francis said. "Bobby's feeling confident. You can just tell. He's seeing the puck extremely well. Every save he makes he's squared up to the puck. They're not fluke saves."

Jeremy Roenick scored one Phoenix goal and set up the other in the second period to put the Coyotes up 2-1. But the Rangers tied it with 4:19 left in regulation on Kevin Hatcher's second goal of the season.

The Coyotes had several scoring chances in overtime but couldn't get one past Mike Richter, who made 27 saves.

It was the second overtime game in a row for the Coyotes, who beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Sunday night when Essensa also had 35 saves.

"Anytime you get outshot and you're able to come out with at least a point that holds well for you," Essensa said, "but certainly when there's only five minutes to go and you're up one goal, you want to come out with a win."

The Rangers also needed overtime for the second-straight game after playing to a tie on Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the New Jersey Devils.

"You'd like them to go in more often than they do," New York coach John Muckler said. "We had a lot of chances."

The Coyotes, playing at home for the first time since an embarrassing 6-0 loss to St. Louis on Dec. 21, took the lead with two goals in a 6:17 span of the second period.

Phoenix tied it 1-1 at 12:19 of the second when Roenick passed the puck cleanly to Shane Doan in front of the net, and Doan slipped it just to the right of Richter.

Doan's 11th goal came moments after his shot in front of the net was blocked by the Rangers' goalie, and Doan came away shaking his head.

Roenick put the Coyotes ahead 2-1 with his 19th goal, and second in as many games, at 18:36 of the second. He took a pass from Greg Adams, from behind the net, and slid it past the outstretched arms of the sprawling Richter. Adams' assist gave him 700 career points.

Hatcher tied it with a hard shot from about 30 feet away that flew just over Essensa's glove.

"Some guy skated in front of me," Essensa said. "I was able to pick it up about halfway. It caught a good piece of my glove but it was moving pretty hard so I wasn't able to keep it out."

Hatcher thought Essensa caught it.

"That's a place I feel comfortable to jump in and shoot from," Hatcher said. "`It felt great to see it go in. It sounded to me like he got a piece of it. I thought it was in his glove."

The Rangers scored first on a power-play goal by Adam Graves at 3:37 of the second. Essensa stopped a shot by Mike York and a point-blank follow by Graves, but the puck came to rest just outside the goal, and Graves knocked it in.

Graves' 12th goal came on New York's 13th shot of the game.

The Coyotes were without Keith Tkachuk for the second game in a row because of back spasms. Phoenix's Rich Tocchet was also out with the flu.

The Rangers killed four Phoenix power plays. The Coyotes didn't even get a shot during two of them.

New York played the first of three in a row on the road. The Rangers are at Dallas Wednesday night and at Montreal on Sunday.

 


ALSO SEE
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AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Adam Graves sneaks the puck in for New York.
avi: 672 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Shane Doan scores the first goal for Phoenix.
avi: 545 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Kevin Hatcher sticks the game-tying goal for the Rangers.
avi: 618 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1