TORONTO _ Michael Grabner, who came to the Rangers as a free agent, burned his former team and rescued the Rangers with a shorthanded goal with five minutes left in regulation and then added an empty-netter, as the Blueshirts snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Thursday night at Air Canada Centre.
Clinging to a 3-2 lead, Grabner took a pass from Kevin Hayes and beat Frederik Anderson on his glove side with 5:03 left in regulation and iced the victory with an empty-netter, his team-leading 21st goal of the season, with 2:55 left.
The Rangers dearly needed their 16th road win _ the most in the NHL _ on a night where there was no cave-in, no flurry of opposing goals, and a solid effort from Henrik Lundqvist, who had allowed 16 goals on 77 shots before Thursday in one of the worst stretches of his career.
But Lundqvist stopped 23 shots, and for the most part, his teammates were quicker to pucks, shooting from angles and anticipating plays. There were few of the long, stretch passes that had become the Rangers trademark. Instead there were quick decisions, short passes and return passes.
Defensive lapses weren't completely erased. Leading 3-1 nearing the end of the second period, Adam Clendening turned the game into a nail-biter. With the Blueshirts on a power play, Clendening blundered in the defensive zone, rather than moving the puck quickly _ he allowed Zach Hyman to steal it, and score unassisted to draw the Leafs within 3-2 at 16:02.
The Rangers special teams had almost cost them moments earlier. With Frank Corrado in the box for hooking Kevin Hayes, but with a man-advantage, Lundqvist had to stop a short-handed attempt by Leo Komarov 19 seconds later.
In the third, the Rangers were content to chip away at the clock, forcing icings and clearing, which was a far cry for an aggressive first.
In a solid opening period, at least compared to the last few games, the Rangers fired 19 shots on Andersen, who had stopped 34 of 36 six nights ago at the Garden, and scored twice. Lundqvist turned away eight of nine.
Mats Zuccarello, who had the puck deep, was patient and slid it out to Brady Skjei near the blue line and his low, glove side wrister beat Andersen cleanly at 6:42.
Mitch Marner's pass from the right boards bounced off the stick of Klein, right to Tyler Bozak in front, who flipped it past Lundqvist to tie the score at 10:16.
The Blueshirts responded when Skjei's pass got to Nash in front, and in a scramble, Pavel Buchnevich kicked the loose puck off his stick and in. A review confirmed that, and the Russian rookie's sixth of the season provided a 2-1 lead at 14:44.
But with a one-goal lead, they needed a cushion. They got it at 9:02 of the second.
Marner came racing down harassed by a backchecking Clendening, and his try slid past the right post and he crashed into Lundqvist. The Rangers broke back up ice and J.T. Miller ripped his 15th goal, a high, right-circle shot past Andersen that appeared to hit Matt Hunwick in the upper body before going in.
Lundqvist was fired up from start to finish, yapping at former Islander Matt Martin for what he though was a dive in the corner in the waning minutes that was deemed a trip by Oscar Lindberg. Martin skated over, yelling back, but Grabner had made the response that counted.
