Niklas Hagman Scores In Overtime, Toronto Maple Leafs Beat Slumping Rangers 3-2

Niklas Hagman was the hero for the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday night, knocking in a goal three minutes into overtime to send the Leafs home with a 3-2 win over the slumping New York Rangers. The Leafs won for only the third time in 10 games. Niklas Hagman drew a power play in overtime, then deflected Pavel Kubina's blast behind Henrik Lundqvist.

The game was the opener of a two-game series between these two; the second matchup is slated for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Toronto.

After going scoreless for the first two periods, the Leafs and Rangers scored three goals in two and a half minutes in the third. Rozsival pulled the Rangers even in the final minute of regulation, sending it into overtime.

John Mitchell scored the first goal for the Leafs early in the third period, but Scott Gomez answered for the Rangers. Ian White scored shortly after that for the Leafs, all three goals coming in a rapid succession. 

The Leafs are now 22-26-12 for 56 points, fourth in their division, and fifth from last overall. The Rangers are 31-23-7 with 69 points, in third place in their division and 13th place overall, but the past dozen games have not gone well. They went 2-8-2.

"The first week of July is coming back to bite the Rangers and bite them when it hurts," Larry Brooks wrote in the New York Post today, referring to the departure of Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, and Sean Avery, who he called "the three strongest and most distinct personalities in the room."

Two former Rangers who are Hall of Famers, Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate, were honored together in a pregame ceremony. Howell's No. 3 and Bathgate's No. 9 were retired by the New York Rangers.

Howell, a defenseman, and Bathgate, a right winger, both joined the Rangers in the 1952-53 season. Howell owns the record for games played with the Rangers at 1,160. Bathgate was traded, fittingly, to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They were joined at center ice by several former teammates and Hall of Fame opponents Red Kelly, Dick Duff, Frank Mahovlich, and Stan Mikita.

Also, the Rangers' affiliate team in the AHL, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with Sean Avery in the lineup, won their third game in a row, beating the Manchester Monarchs 3-2.