Rangers use a little luck to thwart Thrashers again

Sean Avery ricocheted a fluke goal off the boards from center ice and Brendan Shanahan scored the winner with 4:01 left Saturday, lifting the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the host Atlanta Thrashers and a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series.

Shanahan’s 54th career playoff goal came after Ilya Kovalchuk tied the score at 1-1 for the Thrashers with 14:25 left.

Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the victory.

New York Islanders 3, Buffalo 2 -- Rick DiPietro bounced back from a pair of concussions to stop 32 shots in his first game in three weeks, and Marc-Andre Bergeron scored the go-ahead goal eight minutes into the third period to lead the Islanders at Buffalo, N.Y., to tie the East series at 1-1.

Pittsburgh 4, Ottawa 3 -- Sidney Crosby scored his second goal in two career playoff games 11:44 into the third period to lift the Penguins at Ottawa to even the East series at 1-1. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Mike Fisher’s shot from the slot with 13.1 seconds left to seal the win.

Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 2 -- Vincent Lecavalier scored early in the third period to break a tie, and Johan Holmqvist made 34 saves to lead the Lightning at East Rutherford, N.J., and even the East series, 1-1.