Rangers Fly Without Gretzky

The New York Rangers won a big one after losing the Great One.

"Everybody dug down a bit deeper," goaltender Mike Richter said after the Rangers beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-0 Friday night.

The Rangers played for the first time in three seasons without Wayne Gretzky, who was sidelined for at least two weeks with a neck injury. The NHL's all-time leading scorer had played in 223 straight games since signing as a free agent with the Rangers in the summer of 1996.

"Nothing had to be said," said forward Adam Graves, Gretzky's usual linemate on the top line. "It was obvious. We needed a contribution from everyone."

It was an important victory for the Rangers, who are in a five-way fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They began the night six points out of eighth place.

With their injured superstar center watching from general manager Neil Smith's box at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers responded with one of their strongest all-around games at home this season.

John MacLean scored two goals, rookie Manny Malhotra had one and Richter stopped 25 shots for his fourth shutout this season and 22nd of his career.

"I think this was a team effort, really," Rangers coach John Muckler said. "I think everybody contributed. We got the puck down deep, our forechecking was really good - side to side, in deep."

Coyotes goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin oyotes goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin couldn't have agreed more.

"They came out pretty strong. We made some (defensive) mistakes and we paid for it."

Said Khabibulin about the absence of Gretzky:

"Sometimes it's OK if your best player doesn't play. Everyone realizes they have to regroup. They had a great game tonight."

Gretzky was replaced by Petr Nedved on the top line with MacLean and Graves. Nedved recorded his 200th NHL assist on MacLean's first goal in the first period, sparking the Rangers to their third victory in four games.

Richter's toughest save came in the 14th minute of the second period when he stopped Rob Murray in front. It was the first shutout victory for the Rangers against the Coyotes franchise dating to Jan. 24, 1980 when the team was in Winnipeg.

The Coyotes, second in the Western Conference, dropped to 1-6-0 in their last seven.

"We weren't emotionally involved until about 10 minutes left in the second period," Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld said. "We have a hard time coming back, and that was the case tonight."

Malhotra, the Rangers' top pick in the 1998 entry draft, gave New York a 1-0 lead when he scored at 6:26 of the first on a breakaway set up by Niklas Sundstrom's pass. MacLean made it 2-0 when he one-timed Graves' pass from behind the goal line at 19:42.

MacLean scored again at 2:43 of the second, this time on the power play, when he deflected a shot from the left point by Brian Leetch.

© 1999 SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved