McLean Holds Off Rangers : Stanley Cup finals: Canuck goaltender makes 52 saves in 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1.

He stopped shots singly and in rapid succession in a sensational goaltending display that was one for the ages, if not for the faint of heart.

Kirk McLean made 52 saves Tuesday, the most in the Stanley Cup finals since 1971, thrusting out an arm or a leg with acrobatic grace to keep his Vancouver Canucks in a game the New York Rangers threatened to claim early. Yet, it was a shot that got by McLean and careened off the crossbar that allowed the Canucks to grab a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory from the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the opener of the Stanley Cup finals.

The Rangers had pelted McLean with 37 shots in regulation play and 17 shots in the extra period, none seemingly as dangerous as Brian Leetch’s wide-open, 15-foot shot with 41 seconds left in overtime. As the crowd roared, Leetch put his body into the shot--and was knocked to the ice before he could see it hit metal instead of net.

“He shoots it with the best of them,” McLean said. “We got a good bounce.”

The puck bounced past Ranger defenseman Jeff Beukeboom, who was deep in the offensive zone, and onto the stick of Vancouver’s Pavel Bure. Seeing several Rangers caught in the zone, Bure made a quick pass to Cliff Ronning, creating a two-on-one break for Ronning and Adams with only Ranger forward Esa Tikkanen to beat.

Ronning skated up the left side and Adams the right. Ranger goalie Mike Richter came out of his net to play the angle and faced Ronning, leaving Adams the right side of the net.

“When I saw (Tikkanen) go to Cliff, I knew I was going to shoot,” Adams said. “As soon as I got it, I one-timed it. It fluttered on me a little bit, but I did hit it pretty hard, enough to get by him.”

It got by Richter with 34 seconds left in overtime, stunning the crowd and causing the Rangers to wonder how to beat McLean.

They took long shots and close shots, including three consecutive point-blank tries early in overtime by Tikkanen, Steve Larmer and Stephane Matteau. Nothing rattled McLean, who had been 0-7-2 in his career against the Rangers.

“Vancouver walked out of here with a win tonight because of their goaltending, period,” Ranger Coach Mike Keenan said. “McLean is the reason they’re here to begin with. If you’re really honest about it, beginning with their (first-round) Calgary series, he has had the best series of games for a goaltender this spring, no question.”

Said Vancouver Coach Pat Quinn: “He was the story. That was a game that has to go in the highlight package for us and maybe an instructional film for young goaltenders.”

The Canucks, who are 6-1 in overtime in the playoffs, pulled even in the last minute of the third period on a goal by former King first-round draft pick Martin Gelinas. That late drama was a familiar scenario to the Rangers, who gave up the tying goal to the New Jersey Devils with 7.7 seconds to play in the seventh game of their Eastern Conference final series. They persevered to beat the Devils in double overtime but were stymied by McLean.

“You want to get into the game right away with some nice shots, not point-blank, but coming down the wing, angle shots, shots you can get your body in front of and you don’t have to move much right away,” McLean said. “For the most part, we’ve been doing that.”

Larmer’s rebound of an Alexei Kovalev shot at 3:32 of the first period was the only goal until 5:45 of the third. That’s when Bret Hedican dashed into the high slot for a quick wrist shot that tied the game, his first goal in 86 regular-season and playoff games this season. Hedican, a 1992 U.S. Olympian, had one other career goal, scored into an empty net in 1992.

The Rangers seemed as deflated as their fans when Hedican scored on the rebound of Jyrki Lumme’s skidding, off-balance shot. But they regained the lead at 8:29, on a dazzling rush by Leetch. He cut from the right wing to the middle of the ice and faked a shot as he sped up the right side. That drew a host of Canucks toward him, and he found Kovalev open in the left circle and Kovalev snapped it past a helpless McLean for his sixth postseason goal.

Gelinas, whom the Kings traded to Edmonton in the Wayne Gretzky deal, sent the game into overtime when he poked a centering pass by Ronning between Richter’s left arm and the post.

Neither team was happy with its performance and vowed to improve in Game 2, which will be Thursday at the Garden. It’s imperative for the Rangers. “We can’t afford to go down, 2-0,” Leetch said. “This was a tough loss, to give up a goal toward the end of regulation and lose in overtime, but we can’t dwell on it. We worked hard and did a lot of good things.”

Hockey Notes

Since the finals went to a best-of-seven format, the Game 1 winner has won the Cup 44 of 55 times (80%). . . . Pavel Bure extended his point-scoring streak to 16 games. He has 13 goals and 23 points in that span. The playoff record is 18, set by the Islanders’ Bryan Trottier in 1981. . . . The Rangers had 52 victories this season, not 54 as stated in Tuesday’s editions.