The Swedes were sweet.

On a night in which the Rangers did not play crisp hockey, Carl Hagelin and Henrik Lundqvist were the reasons the Blueshirts left the Garden with a 5-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday. The Rangers are over .500 (6-5-0) for the first time this season.

Hagelin scored two goals and Lundqvist made 19 saves. Ryan Callahan’s unassisted semi-breakaway goal at 15:13 of the first was the game-winner, and Arron Asham potted his first goal as a Ranger with seven minutes left. Rick Nash scored his third with 8.3 seconds left.

“A guy like Ash, what he does a lot of players won’t do it. Those type of guys, who fight for their teammates and do all the dirty things in the game, they score a goal [and their teammates] are certainly happy for him,” head coach John Tortorella said. “Good for him. I’m happy for him.”

Hagelin, part of a newly-formed top line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash, opened the scoring at 31 seconds by redirecting a Nash shot past Tampa starter Mathieu Garon.

Marc Staal chipped the puck ahead to Hagelin, who raced toward the Eighth Avenue goal with the defenseman and his linemates in tow. The second-year left wing snapped a low shot past Garon for his third of the season — all coming against the Lightning. He scored his first goal of the season in the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Lightning in Tampa on Feb. 2. It was his first goal since March 15.

“I saw a lot of guys focus on [Nash] and [Stepan] and [Staal] joining the rush,” Hagelin said. “I didn’t really have a lane to pass — you want to make a pass if you’re on a 4-on-2 — but they were all occupied by their ‘D’ so I saw an opening five hole and it went in.”

Garon only lasted 23:58 spanning the first and second periods before being replaced by Anders Lindback. Garon allowed the first three Rangers goals, while Lindback surrendered Asham’s marker. The Rangers outshot Tampa, 32-20, and the Lightning’s top line of Steven Stamkos (minus-2 in 19:03), Martin St. Louis (minus-3 in 19:12) and Nate Thompson (minus-4 in 13:12) only generated eight shot attempts.

“This one was no good,” Lightning head coach Guy Boucher said. “We were trying our Hail Marys and hope play and were trying to cheat to get back in it. If we do that we don’t deserve it.”

The Rangers tied a season high in goals last night. They scored five against Toronto on Jan. 26. The Rangers are 4-0 this season when they score at least four goals.

“That’s what we needed,” Hagelin said. “It’s important for every guy to chip in. It’s always good when everyone contributes.”

While the offensive outburst will please Tortorella, there were defensive breakdowns in the first 40 minutes that are concerning. The Rangers allowed five odd-man rushes in the first period and the Lightning controlled play in the second period, with a 10-8 advantage in shots. That statistic does not begin to acknowledge the territorial advantage Tampa had.

“It’s a track meet and we can’t get into a track meet with them,” Tortorella said of the odd-man rushes. “I thought we gathered ourselves as the game went on and defended much better. Still had some turnovers but I thought our neutral zone play was much better as we went on our way.”

The Rangers entered the third with a 3-1 lead because Lundqvist put on Vezina-quality netminding. Tampa Bay’s lone goal — Vincent Lecavalier’s fifth of the season at 14:42 of the second — was directly attributable to an awful line change and an inability to clear the zone.

“Hank was great,” Nash said. “That’s why he’s the best goalie in the league and winning awards for it. He kept us in the game and he was unbelievable.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Lundqvist, Hagelin carry Rangers to victory appeared first on Metro.us.

It is not the quantity of goals Rick Nash has scored, it’s the quality of his chances.

Head coach John Tortorella is not concerned that the power forward entered last night’s match against the Lightning tied with Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan, J.T. Miller and Michael Del Zotto for third on the Rangers with two goals. Tortorella pointed to the quality of Nash’s shots and that he leads the Rangers with 39 shots. Nash’s seven points are second-most on the team behind Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards, who have nine each.

“Nash only has two goals but we have a pretty comprehensive sheet as far as offensive chances and offensive opportunities. He leads our team in that,” Tortorella said. “I think there’s more finish. There’s more finish to it. But even though he has two goals, he’s been around the puck. He’s been around a lot of our opportunities in the first 10 games.”

Neither of Nash’s goals have come on the power play. Among the primary reasons he was acquired from Columbus was to bolster the man advantage units. Nash has five shots in 37:16 of power play time.

According to Tortorella, Nash has passed up on chances while getting used to a new position. The Rangers have Nash stationed along the half boards compared to the down low presence he was in Columbus. Tortorella thinks the additional ice time will give Nash more of an opportunity to use his shot.

“Just watching tape, he has made some passes where we would like him to shoot,” Tortorella said. “He has had some opportunities on top of the circles; he’s trying to make the extra pass.

“Where he has been on the offense, he has been all over the sheets. His game is bringing pucks to the net. That’s a big part of his game. There will be some away from the net. He just shoots the pucks.”

Youth is served

Tortorella has routinely said that he tries to “stay out of the way” of the offensive instincts of young players.

But what about NHL players acquired during an in-season trade such as Darroll Powe? Is there an accelerated teaching process for a player who has played 296 NHL games spanning five seasons with the Flyers and the Wild?

“He’s learning our system. So we’ve done a lot of coaching there,” Tortorella said. “Really with all three of them [Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Powe]. They are three guys who have been infused into our lineup in the past couple games so we’re spending quite a bit of time with them.”

Notes …

» Dan Girardi returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an undisclosed injury. Stu Bickel, Brian Boyle and Steve Eminger were scratched. Tampa scratched LW Ryan Malone and defensemen Marc-Andre Bergeron and Brendan Mikkelson.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

The post Rangers Notebook: Nash getting good chances, just not scoring appeared first on Metro.us.