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NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers came up short in their first shot at clinching a playoff berth. The Ottawa Senators bounced back from a humbling loss and gave their flickering post-season chances a slight spark. When all was said and done Saturday night, the Senators skated off with a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden that boosted their hopes and delayed any celebration for the host Rangers. "Were just trying to win games," said Senators captain Jason Spezza, whose second-period goal was the winner. "Were trying to build some momentum, win games and play right. "If were winning games, it will be a more enjoyable end of the season." The Senators shook off a 7-4 loss to Montreal on Friday when a 3-0 lead was wiped out by seven straight goals against them. Ottawa is five points behind the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, but the Senators will have to jump over four teams with only four games left to get into the playoffs. "We wanted to have a response just for the morale of the group," Spezza said. "We know its been a disappointing year, we know that we havent reached expectations, but we still have these games left to play so we want to win them." Robin Lehner made 41 saves and held off a furious late push by the Rangers, who still need one point to secure a playoff spot. They could qualify before their next game if New Jersey loses to Calgary on Monday. The Rangers will host Carolina on Tuesday. "We are still in a good spot," defenceman Dan Girardi said. "Its in our hands to get that win in our next game, and hopefully secure home ice in the first round." New York, with three games remaining, would get that if it keeps its hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division over Philadelphia, which lost at Boston on Saturday. The Flyers trail by four points with five games left. The Rangers, back home after a 2-1-1 Western road trip, started slowly and trailed 2-0 in the first period. Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad put Ottawa in front, and Spezza made it 3-1 in the second. Mats Zuccarello deflected in two goals in the second to bring the Rangers within a goal each time. Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves. "I hope our mindset is not to clinch. Its about getting the home advantage," Lundqvist said. "Id rather look ahead than behind me." Ottawa grabbed the lead with 7:15 left in the first off a rush. Clarke McArthur made a pass from the left circle to Stone, who gathered the puck on the inside edge of the right circle and snapped a shot past Lundqvist for his third goal of the season and second in seven games. Less than a minute later, Carl Hagelin had two prime scoring chances near the left post, but was denied by Lehner and then again on the rebound. Rick Nash, who recorded seven shots, then had a breakaway chance, but his in-close stuff attempt was stopped by Lehner with 2:48 left in the first. "We won and Im happy," Lehner said. "(My teammates) were helping me with rebounds, and I saw most pucks. They had some good chances, but I think we played better." Ottawa turned the puck right around and made it 2-0 just 11 seconds later. Zack Smith won a faceoff in the Rangers zone back to Zibanejad, who worked his way into the slot and ripped a shot by Lundqvist for his 16th of the season and second in two nights. Martin St. Louis nearly got the Rangers on the board, but he was stopped on a partial breakaway by defenceman Erik Karlsson, less than a minute after Lundqvist sticked away Chris Neils hard drive. Rangers defenceman John Moore, in his second game following a six-game absence caused by a concussion, fired a hard, rising shot from the left point that sailed into traffic, struck Zuccarello and nestled in the net to make it 2-1 at 5:25. Ottawa restored its two-goal lead 3:02 later after the Rangers couldnt gain control of the puck. Karlsson ripped a drive from the centre of the blue line that disappeared in a huddle of bodies in the crease, but was then poked in by Spezza, who wasnt overly impressed by his 20th goal. "Its nice to get but its pretty insignificant, especially in a year where you dont make the playoffs," he said. New York cut its deficit back to a goal with 8:05 remaining in the second. Zuccarello swung the puck behind the net and around the boards to Marc Staal, who took a shot from above the left circle that Zuccarello deflected in for his 19th goal. The Rangers hurt their comeback chances in the final moments when they retaliated for what appeared to be a late hit by Neil on Staal. New York was short-handed for 2 minutes of the final 2:47. NOTES: Ottawa is 4-7-3 in the second of back-to-back games this season. ... Spezza has eight 20-goal seasons in the NHL. ... New York defenceman Ryan McDonagh (shoulder) missed his second straight game. Mike Condon Jersey .3 million qualifying offer to outfielder Michael Cuddyer on Monday. Custom Ottawa Senators Jerseys . -- Creighton apparently has Villanovas number. http://www.authenticsenatorspro.com/Crai...enators-jersey/. The teams all-time leading scorer, DeRo has won everything there is to win in MLS. Daniel Alfredsson Jersey . After not scoring 40 points in the opening quarter in the last five seasons, the Rockets have done it five times this season and twice in the last three games. Mikkel Boedker Jersey . But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home.MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens are wondering where their power play has gone. What used to be their best weapon has mostly been firing blanks for the last month or so. And while they didnt need it much to sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of NHL playoffs, it could come in awfully handy when they face the Boston Bruins in an Eastern Conference semifinal later this week. The Canadiens went 0-for-23 over the final eight regular season games with the man advantage and scored on only two of 13 chances against the Lightning, although one was Max Paciorettys series-clinching goal with 43 seconds left in Game 4 in Montreal. It has got to where they dont talk about scoring goals so much as building "momentum" off the power play. "We worked on the power play (Monday) and well work on it more," coach Michel Therrien said this week. "We want to create momentum on the power play and were working with that in mind." The Canadiens have spent a lot of time in practice over the past month trying to find answers. Early in the season, they were scoring regularly until opponents started keying on P.K. Subbans big point shot. Since then, the Canadiens have had trouble finding a winning formula. They will need it to keep the bigger, more physical Bruins honest and to match the Boston power play, which went 6-for-16 in a five-game win over the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round. The Bruins used to labour on the power play. They beat Montreal in seven games in a 2011 first round series despite going 0-for-23 with the man advantage. But that was before they picked up slick point man Torey Krug, which allowed them to move towering Zdeno Chara into a much more effective position in front of the opposing teams net. Subban looks to the 2011 Bruins as proof that a team can win even if the power play is struggling. "The year they won the Cup, I dont think that had many power play goals," he said. "The power play is one thing, but I think the most important thing is generating momentum on a power play.dddddddddddd "Youre not always going to score, especially when you play a team with a good penalty kill. But you try to create opportunities and generate momentum and really grind down their forwards and defence." They hope to catch fire against the Bruins. In the first round, there were times they had dazzling puck movement, and other times when they looked like marionettes following a choreographed routine. It may just be taking more time than expected for trade deadline acquisition Thomas Vanek to make his mark on the first power play unit with Pacioretty and centre David Desharnais. Vanek has had a big impact on their even-strength play, and facing Boston may be just what he needs to help the power play get going as well. The Austrian has 30 goals and 62 points in 55 career regular-season games against the Bruins, most while he played for the Buffalo Sabres. Penalty killing is also a concern. The Canadiens were fourth best in the NHL this season with an 85.1-per-cent kill rate, but gave up two goals on only seven chances to Tampa Bay (71.4 per cent). Boston killed 90 per cent of Detroits advantages. The penalty killing units should be bolstered by the return of Travis Moen from a concussion. The left-winger missed the last nine games of the regular season and the first round of playoffs after he was injured in a March 24 game against the Bruins. He has been skating on the fourth line with Daniel Briere and Dale Weise. Rookie Michael Bournival played well in that spot in the first round. "I havent decided on our lineup," said Therrien. "To prepare Travis, Ive got to have him practice with players who might have a chance to play. But hes a guy with experience. Hes a big body and he kills penalties." The Canadiens will face the Bruins for a record 34th time in the post-season. Montreal has won 24 series, but the Bruins have won seven of the last 11, including the last two. 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