Leetch Cashes In Wild Mistake

Minnesota Coach Jacques Lemaire made a mistake, and Brian Leetch and the New York Rangers used it for a much-needed victory.

Leetch scored the tying and winning goals to rally the Rangers past the Wild, 3-2, in overtime Tuesday night after overcoming a two-goal deficit early in the third period at St. Paul, Minn.

The Wild controlled Eric Lindros in regulation by having center Jim Dowd and left wing Pascal Dupuis cover him. But less than a minute after Minnesota goalie Dwayne Roloson made a stellar save of a shot by Mike York, Lindros found Leetch on a crossing pass from the corner to win it with 1:16 left.

“I’m mad at myself, because I didn’t have the right guys on the ice,” Lemaire said. “Jimmy and Dupuis, they did well against Lindros. But it’s a different game, four-on-four. I felt they could do the job. I was wrong.”

New York had lost four of five and seven of 10.

Radek Dvorak’s short-handed goal on a pass from Petr Nedved 2:17 into the final period pulled the Rangers within one.

Later, Andreas Johansson lost control of the puck on an attempt at a wraparound shot, but it slid to Leetch, who sent it sailing past Roloson’s glove with 6:22 left to tie the score, 2-2.

“That was just a lucky break,” Leetch said. “I took a chance by staying in there.”

Dan Blackburn made 25 saves in relief of Mike Richter, who could be traded before the March 19 deadline.

Pittsburgh 6, Florida 5--Alexei Kovalev scored his second goal of the game with 1:37 left in overtime at Pittsburgh.

Darius Kasparaitis kept the puck alive in the zone for Pittsburgh and Kovalev fired a shot past Roberto Luongo from 30 feet for his 25th goal. Randy Robitaille also had two goals for the Penguins.

Phoenix 4, New Jersey 1--Sean Burke stopped 26 of 27 shots at Phoenix and the Coyotes extended their unbeaten streak in regulation time to six games.

Carolina 2, Chicago 1--Sean Hill scored from the slot 1:36 into overtime at Chicago and the Hurricanes extended their winning streak to three games.

Nashville 2, San Jose 0--Mike Dunham turned away 26 shots for his third shutout this season and the Predators ended San Jose’s five-game winning streak at home.