Monday, Feb. 04, 2008

In Brief: Drury goal lifts visiting Rangers past Canadiens

MONTREAL -- The New York Rangers received the kind of effort Sunday they believe can lead to a successful playoff push.

Chris Drury had the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the Rangers scored five unanswered goals in a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Drury redirected Nigel Dawes' shot past Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet at the right edge of the crease as New York overcame a 3-0 deficit early in the second period to extend its winning streak to three.

"Hopefully, it says a lot," Drury said. "Hopefully, we grab on to this and it carries us to some more wins down the stretch here because that was definitely a big win for us, on the road and down by three."

Tennis

Steady rain in San Diego washed out Sunday's matches at the Fed Cup quarterfinal between Germany and the United States, forcing organizers to try again today. The best-of-five series is tied 1-1. The winner will move on to face defending champion Russia, which reached the semifinals behind Maria Sharapova. China and Spain also reached the semifinals. Sharapova, who made her Fed Cup debut over the weekend, cruised past Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-1 to give the Russians a 2-1 lead over host Israel. Anna Chakvetadze then defeated Tzipi Obziler 6-4, 6-2, and the Russian doubles team won the final point to make it 4-1.

Horse Racing

Santa Anita Park in Arcadia canceled racing because of wet weather for the eighth time this season, but repairs on the venue's problematic synthetic track were set to begin by the end of the day.