TORONTO — Ryan Callahan’s shootout goal gave New York a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and lifted the Rangers into a tie atop the NHL standings.
The Rangers captain moved in on goalie Jonas Gustavsson and wired a shot top corner in the third round to clinch it. Brad Richards also scored for New York in the shootout. Tim Connolly had Toronto’s lone goal in the tiebreaker.
Marian Gaborik, with two goals, and Brandon Dubinsky scored in regulation for New York (47-21-7). Henrik Lundqvist made 22 stops, and Richards added two assists for the Rangers, who bounced back from a home loss to Buffalo on Friday.
The Rangers, who lead Pittsburgh by three points in the Eastern Conference, are tied with Western-leading St. Louis with 101 points. The Rangers have one more win than the Blues.
Joey Crabb had a goal and an assist, and Cody Franson and Connolly also had goals for the Leafs (33-34-9), who got 30 saves from Gustavsson.
Toronto has lost nine straight at home, dating to a win over Edmonton on Feb. 6.
Both teams had chances to end it in overtime, including a shot from Toronto’s Phil Kessel on a partial break that just went wide. Nazem Kadri was also stopped from point-blank range by Lundqvist.
Gaborik scored his second of the night and 37th of the season at 4:19 of the third on a beautiful saucer pass from Richards. Gaborik took the feed in the slot and beat Gustavsson between the legs.
The Rangers’ lead didn’t last long as Connolly followed up a shot by Crabb to fire in his 12th goal 19 seconds later.
New York then took three consecutive minor penalties, but Toronto couldn’t muster much during the power plays.
The Leafs’ commitment to defense under new coach Randy Caryle produced just 16 shots for Toronto through two periods.
Crabb gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 6:53 of the second after the Rangers failed to clear the zone. Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf kept the puck in at the point and got it to Crabb in front for a shot that just slid over the line behind Lundqvist.
Dubinsky tied it at 15:29 off a faceoff in which the Leafs were outmuscled in front of their net. Dubinsky fished the puck out of a maze of bodies and buried it behind Gustavsson for his ninth of the season.
Toronto opened the scoring 9:11 in after Gustavsson made a big stop on a backhand by Callahan, and Kessel and Franson broke the other way on a 2-on-1. Kessel gave a head fake before sliding a backhanded pass across to Franson for his fifth of the season.
Gaborik tied it on a shot off a faceoff in the Toronto zone that deflected off Phaneuf’s stick and past Gustavsson at 12:19.
NOTES: New York started a three-game road trip after a going 4-3 on a seven-game homestand. … Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello fractured his left wrist in the first period of Friday’s loss to Buffalo and is out indefinitely. Also scratched for New York were D Jeff Woywitka, D Anton Stralman, D Steve Eminger (undisclosed injury), C Chad Kolarik and LW John Scott. … Sitting out for the Leafs were D Mike Komisarek, LW Clarke MacArthur (upper body), RW Mike Brown (thigh bruise), RW Joffrey Lupul (separated shoulder), RW Matt Frattin (lower body) and LW Nikolai Kulemin (broken finger). … Toronto forward Ryan Hamilton of nearby Oshawa, Ontario, played his first home game for the Leafs. The captain of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies made his NHL debut against New Jersey on Friday.