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NEW YORK (AP) -- Paul Kariya was so focused on getting the
Anaheim Mighty Ducks turned around, he nearly lost track of his
birthday.
|  | | Marty McInnis is toe-to-toe with Kim Johnsson. |
Kariya, held to only one point in Anaheim's first four games,
had a goal and an assist as the Mighty Ducks beat the New York
Rangers 4-3 Monday night.
"I totally forgot," Kariya said of his 26th birthday. "We
were sitting around the table at the pregame meal and it's German
Titov's birthday, too. Someone said happy birthday and I said 'Wait,
I think it's my birthday, too."'
It was the first victory for the Ducks since they beat
expansion Minnesota on opening night. Anaheim scored only five
goals in three losses.
"I've just played horribly this year," Kariya said. "It's my
job to score goals, so every game I expect to produce
offensively."
Kariya helped set up Marty McInnis' second goal of the season
that gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead in the first period. He made it 2-0 at
9:05 of the second -- scoring the first of two Mighty Ducks goals in
a 32-second span.
"We talked about playing hockey," Kariya said of a team
meeting. "We have a lot of skill in this dressing room and we all
want to make simple plays and team plays, but there's times you
have to do some things with the puck.
"I think everybody held their sticks a little bit lighter today
and started to create offense."
Sylvain Lefebvre, Theo Fleury and Jan Hlavac scored for the
Rangers, who managed only two first-period shots. New York, which
opened the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1989-90 season,
dropped its second straight game.
The Rangers nearly tied it with 8:32 left, but Hlavac's shot
rang off the left post. Mike Leclerc restored the two-goal lead at
4-2 when he scored his first goal 52 seconds later.
New York closed to 4-3 with only 56.9 seconds left when Hlavac
got one past Dominic Roussel on the power play and with goalie Kirk
McLean pulled for an extra skater. A furious attempt to tie in the
closing seconds was thwarted.
"Initially in the game we have to get the puck deep, drive,
forecheck and get the puck in the net. We did not seem to do
that," Rangers captain Mark Messier said.
Roussel, making his first start of the season and second
appearance for the Ducks, stopped 25 shots.
"It's nice to come out with two points," Roussel said. "They
have a good team and it's tough to win in this building. The guys
were driving, hitting and doing everything they could out there. It
was a good team effort."
Kariya and right wing Teemu Selanne have gotten off to a slow
start. Selanne, who has two goals, helped Kariya get his first by
making a pass out from the corner into the left circle to Kariya,
who whipped a shot that beat McLean.
"It was just a change in attitude," Kariya said. "We decided
to take a game to the other team instead of sitting back and
waiting. We just weren't making plays and we haven't made plays
really all year long."
Anaheim's top line should get a boost soon when injured center
Steve Rucchin returns to the lineup. Recently, coach Craig
Hartsburg briefly split up Kariya and Selanne to try to spread the
offense out.
The Ducks' power play, only 3-for-19 this season, clicked on its
first attempt Monday. McInnis deflected Kariya's shot from the
center of the blue line past McLean at 10:39 of the first -- 15
seconds after Rich Pilon went off for slashing.
Andrei Nazarov gave the Ducks a 3-0 lead at 9:37 of the second
period when Ladislav Kohn curled to the blue line and got the puck
into the slot to Nazarov, who scored his first goal.
"You can't fall behind like that," Rangers defenseman Brian
Leetch said. "It's too hard to come back and get the goals when
you need them."
Lefebvre cut it to 3-1 just 1:27 later. Leetch sent a shot on
goal that Roussel should have been able to grab easily. The puck,
however, tipped off his glove to Petr Nedved, who carried to the
side boards and backhanded a pass to Lefebvre in the left circle.
Fleury's luck has shown some signs of changing for the better.
After scoring a career-worst 15 goals in his first year with the
Rangers, the pint-sized forward scored his third of this season
with 9:50 left when his pass hit Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei
and slid into the net.
Game notes
Guy Hebert started Anaheim's first four games in goal. ...
Lefebvre, who has 29 career goals, last scored on Jan. 2 at
Montreal. ... The Rangers, who killed off their first 13
short-handed situations, have allowed three power-play goals in the
last two games. ... McLean made 25 saves. ... Titov, a center,
turned 35.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Anaheim Clubhouse
NY Rangers Clubhouse
RECAPS
Anaheim 4
NY Rangers 3
Vancouver 5
Toronto 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Leclerc seals the game with a 3rd period goal off of Kirk McLean's skate.
avi: 655 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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