NEW YORK – On a day set aside to celebrate him, it was only fitting that the New York Rangers would give Sam Rosen one more opportunity for a dramatic call in a win at Madison Square Garden over the Vancouver Canucks. The 1994 Cup Final it surely isn’t, but the Blueshirts rallied for a stunning, dramatic four-goal third period in a 5-3 matinee win over their old rivals, despite recording just 12 total shots on goal after an abysmal first two frames that rivaled their season-worst showing earlier in the week against Calgary. Another seemingly listless start was seemingly erased in a frantic final 20 minutes where both teams combined for six total goals; the Rangers and Canucks traded go-ahead and game-tying goals until Jonny Brodzinski’s second tally of the day at the 15:47 mark of the third period gave the Blueshirts the lead for good. “I think just the will to win,” said defenseman K’Andre Miller, who gave the Rangers one of their third period leads, of what changed to spark the team. “We were a pretty determined group. Once we got the building going, it kind of had that feeling like last year or the year before, where we knew we were winning that game. Fun feeling, cool feeling to have.” The Garden was rocking on Sunday from well before puck drop, with their soon-retiring, Hall of Fame broadcaster honored in a “Salute To Sam Rosen,” which featured a pre-game ceremony with all of his broadcast partners, the presentation of a team-signed jersey and a golden microphone to commemorate his 40 years of calling the team’s games. An emotionally charged crowd certainly enjoyed the final result, but the Rangers, who clawed back into a tie for the final wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, aren’t losing sight of the path it took to get there. Six shots on goal through the first two periods and a rash of defensive zone coverage issues won’t put them in position to win many games, and while head coach Peter Laviolette wasn’t quite as angry as he was after the Calgary game given Sunday’s result, he knows there’s plenty to clean up as the team gets set to embark out west starting Tuesday night in Los Angeles. “There’s no excuse for it,” Laviolette said. “We’re at the point in the season where we can’t start a game like that, like we did in the first period; we didn’t have the speed and they did, we need to possess the puck and we didn’t. The response…got us going a little bit, and we played our best period in the third.” ...read more read less