Callahan's OT goal lifts Rangers over Red Wings

[March 22, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Ryan Callahan ripped a shot in off a goal post 2:42 into overtime to lift the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers over Detroit 2-1 on Wednesday night, sending the injury-riddled Red Wings to their sixth straight loss.

The Rangers turned up the heat in the extra session and finally got a puck past Ty Conklin, who was recalled from the minor leagues earlier Wednesday because of Detroit's injury woes. Callahan fired a shot from the slot for his 27th goal, making the New York captain a winner on his 27th birthday.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves, and Brad Richards scored in the first period for the Rangers, who lead Pittsburgh by three points in the East. Pittsburgh has 10 games left and the Rangers have nine.

Henrik Zetterberg gave Detroit an early 1-0 lead, and Conklin made 32 saves, but the Red Wings had to settle for just one point. Detroit, 0-4-2 in its last six, moved into sole possession of fourth place in the West, one point ahead of Nashville.

Zetterberg's goal led to the tossing of an octopus onto the Madison Square Garden ice, but that was the only bit of playoff feeling the Red Wings could enjoy on this night.

Detroit is limping toward the end of the season. The Red Wings were without top defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (ankle), forwards Darren Helm (lower body) and Johan Franzen (back), and goalies Joey MacDonald (back) and Jimmy Howard (groin).

It wasn't until noon on Wednesday that the Red Wings knew they would have Conklin in goal after calling him up from Grand Rapids of the AHL on an emergency basis. Conklin had to pass through re-entry waivers, meaning any NHL team could have claimed him before he could rejoin Detroit. He was backed up by Jordan Pearce, who has never played in an NHL game.

The Rangers' power play has shown some renewed life lately, and Richards did all the work on it to get New York even at 1.

After Lundqvist stopped the puck and left it behind the Rangers net, Richards took it and streaked up the middle of the ice. He weaved his way through the Detroit zone, splitting defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart -- who flailed at him as he blew past them -- and slid a shot that eluded Conklin with 5:02 left in the first period for his 24th goal of the season.

New York got the advantage when Detroit was caught with too many men on the ice. Eight players were out there when the whistle was blown. The Rangers had failed to score a power-play goal in 10 of 12 games before netting one Monday in a victory over New Jersey.

The Red Wings struck first, just 3:36 in when Zetterberg fired a shot that appeared to be deflected just before it got past Lundqvist. Zetterberg's 19th goal of the season was his first in six games.

NOTES: D Dan Girardi was chosen as the Rangers' nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. ... Conklin beat the Rangers 2-0 in his last start against them, while with St. Louis, on Nov. 7, 2010. ... Zetterberg's goal was his 249th in the NHL, tying him with Peter Forsberg for 11th place among Swedish players. The point tied him with former Rangers captain Chris Drury (615) on the NHL list. He moved into sole possession of 19th place on the Red Wings list with 660 games played.

[Associated Press; By IRA PODELL]

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