Lundqvist, Rangers tame Wild, 3-2

Lundqvist, Rangers tame Wild, 3-2

PAUL BATTAGLIA/AP

Marian Gaborik (r.) is denied in the first period by Minneso ta Wild goalie Josh Harding, but the Rangers right wing would go on to score his lone goal in the second period.

NY RANGERS 3, MINNESOTA WILD 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. The Rangers distanced themselves from the Penguins Tuesday night in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they didnt want to hear about it.

Dont ask me about the Penguins, Brad Richards said following Tuesday nights 3-2 win over the Wild at Xcel Energy Center. If you have questions about the Rangers, Ill answer those.

The Islanders 5-3 win in Pittsburgh went final as the Rangers entered the second intermission tied 2-2 with Minnesota, so that begged the question: Going into the third, were the Blueshirts aware their crosstown rivals had helped them out?

No, and I dont really care, said Henrik Lundqvist, who made his sixth consecutive start, proving the Rangers do care. Well see where we end up in the end, but its impor tant for us to focus on our game and not think too much about what teams are doing.

The Rangers (48-21-7, 103 points) lead the Penguins by three points with only six regular-season games remaining, starting Wednesday night in Winnipeg to conclude this back-to-back. The difference between the one seed and the four seed where the Rangers would drop if Pittsburgh caught them could be a first-round matchup with the late-surging Sabres or a taxing physical battle with the Flyers, who will not go away quietly.

The top seed also could position the Blueshirts for a more favorable second-round matchup, or maybe even more importantly, put one more round between them and the Penguins if both teams advance.

Whether or not the Rangers are willing to acknowledge the significance of their postseason positioning, they are now back to their early season habit of winning games even when they dont play their best.

Its close I wouldnt say its all the way there, said defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who had two assists in his hometown, including a sprint down the left wing and the centering pass to Ruslan Fedotenko for the go-ahead goal with 6:23 remaining in the third period. Its not always pretty, but we know were comfortable in tight situations, so its great to see it come together again in the third period like that.

The win was the Rangers fourth in five games, during a stretch when a different weakness seems to plague them every night but Lundqvist and a few finishers pull out the two points. Against the Wild, it was the penalty kill that caved. Minnesota got goals from Kyle Brodziak and Mikko Koivu on second-period man advantages.

We just want to iron out any of our deficiencies, said Brian Boyle, who played one his most physical games, scored the lone first-period goal, won 10 of 15 faceoffs, put six shots on net, registered five hits and wore the Broadway Hat. A lot of focus went to our backcheck and some communication there (in previous games), but it kind of crept into our penalty kill tonight, so were gonna have to be better there.

John Tortorella also said he would like to see the Rangers dictate the play a little bit more when the game is close in the third, but the mistakes didnt cost them. This was another win, sweetened by Marian Gaboriks goal off assists from Richards and McDonagh with 12:02 remaining in the second period.

Gaborik played eight seasons with the Wild after they selected him with the third overall pick in the 2000 draft, so the crowds reaction to his goal and the Rangers persistence didnt surprise him.

Yeah, I heard some boos, Gaborik said, smiling.