New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist saved a penalty shot with 19.6 seconds remaining to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia in the NHL Winter Classic outdoor game Monday. The 29-year-old Swede made 34 saves, the biggest on Danny Briere's penalty shot, while Mike Rupp scored twice for New York and Brad Richards netted the game-winning goal to rally the Rangers from a two-goal deficit. “The way we battled back and with the penalty shot that late in the game, there are a lot of great things I will remember,” Lundqvist said. “It was exciting. It was just amazing.” At the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, a sellout crowd of 46,967 endured brisk winds, frigid temperatures and brief snow to watch the unique made-for-television NHL regular-season matchup. “It was spectacular,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We couldn't have asked for any more from the event.” Rangers coach John Tortorella called the third-period officiating “horrible” and “disgusting” and both he and Lundqvist wondered if the penalty shot call was made simply to build the drama. “Maybe they wanted to get it to over-time,” Tortorella said. The game marked the fifth edition of the Classic, which debuted in 2008 at Buffalo, and the NHL's seventh outdoor regular-season game. Avs 2, Kings 1: Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves and defied the Los Angeles Kings in the shootout to provide the foundation for the surging Colorado Avalanche's victory Monday. It was the eighth win in nine games for the Avalanche (22-18-1) while Los Angeles (19-14-7) remained one point ahead of San Jose at the top of the Pacific division despite the loss. Senators 3, Devils 2: Daniel Alfredsson scored his 401st career goal on a power play four minutes into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 3-2 win over the visiting Devils. Oiles 4, Blackhawks 3: Ryan Smyth, Taylor Hall and Andy Sutton scored in the second period and Edmonton bounced back from Daniel Carcillo's nasty hit on defenseman Tom Gilbert, which drew a game misconduct, during a chippy win at Chicago. Sharks 3, Canucks 2: Michael Handzus scored the only goal in a shootout to lift visiting San Jose. Canadiens Apoligize: The Montreal Canadiens apologized to fans upset with the team for not hiring a coach who speaks French, a decision that sparked a public-relations problem for a club that markets itself as French Canada's team. The apology by General Manager Pierre Gauthier came two weeks after the appointment of Randy Cunneyworth, who became the first Canadiens coach in 40 years without at least a working knowledge of French.
