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Tuesday, Mar. 21 7:30pm ET
Rangers in danger of missing playoffs

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NEW YORK (AP) -- A troubling trend is about to send the New York Rangers to an all too familiar place -- home for the playoffs.

The Rangers squandered yet another third-period lead and lost to the Florida Panthers 4-3 Tuesday night, a defeat that further damages New York's slim playoff hopes.


	Florida's Len Barrie celebrates Mark Parrish's tying goal in the third period.

Mike Sillinger scored twice, including the game-winner, as the Panthers pushed the Rangers deeper into 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers, with 72 points, are in 10th place, one point behind Buffalo and Montreal in the fight for the last spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Since Jan. 27, the Rangers have held third-period leads 13 times in 27 games. They have won seven, lost four and tied twice in those contests.

"There is no real reason for it," forward Adam Graves said. "We had a 3-1 lead and that put us in a position to win the game, but we let them back in it."

New York, which has missed the playoffs the last two seasons, has seven games remaining. Buffalo will play eight more times and Montreal nine.

"Get up two goals and the same thing happens," center Tim Taylor said. "I'm depressed right now. I can't believe what's happening."

Second-period goals by Mike York and Mathieu Schneider put the Rangers ahead by two. But Scott Mellanby scored at the end of a power play later in the period to make it 3-2 and set up the decisive final 20 minutes.

"It looks to me like we were running out of gas a little bit in the third period," Schneider said. "Sitting back, trying to protect leads instead of going at teams. We played a lot of hockey in our end and that's what cost us."

It was the second straight game New York has seen a one-goal lead in the third turn into a loss; the Rangers lost 5-4 at Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"They get uptight," coach John Muckler said, echoing the sentiment of his players. "They didn't get uptight until they got the second goal."

The Panthers played the fourth game of a five-game road trip.

"We were down by a couple of goals, but I really was pleased with how we played pretty much throughout the game," Florida coach Terry Murray said.

Mellanby scored his 15th goal with 4:13 left in the second when he tipped in the puck after it ricocheted off the boards behind the New York net.

Florida tied it with 12:39 left on Parrish's power-play goal. Parrish scored his 23rd while Valeri Kamensky was in the penalty box for elbowing.

Sillinger completed the comeback at 10:50 when he scored his second of the game and 22nd this season.

"This was a big game for us, coming back from two goals down," said Sillinger, who has three goals since being acquired just before last week's trade deadline. "We haven't been consistent, but we've been playing hard lately and we showed patience."

The Panthers played without forward Peter Worrell, out because of headaches, dizziness and nausea. Worrell was struck over the helmet Sunday night by the stick of New Jersey defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

Niedermayer received a 10-game suspension from the NHL on Tuesday.

The Rangers held Pavel Bure, the NHL's leading goal scorer, to just an assist on the winning goal. Bure had five goals in three games entering.

"We were down by two goals, but we continued to play patient," said Florida's Viktor Kozlov, who had two assists. "We're 2-2 on this road trip and we're getting in the right direction for the playoffs."

New York took a 1-0 lead on Jan Hlavac's 19th goal at 10:34 of the first. Hlavac and linemate Petr Nedved, who assisted, missed two games with injuries.

Sillinger tied it with 48.6 seconds left in the first when his long slap shot hit Mike Richter and trickled in.

York put the Rangers back on top just 2:44 into the second. His 24 goals lead NHL rookies.

Schneider made it 3-1 when he ripped a shot from the high slot that beat Mike Vernon for his 10th goal.

Vernon stopped 22 shots for his 19th victory.

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NY Rangers Clubhouse

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RECAPS
Boston 4
Tampa Bay 0

Ottawa 7
Atlanta 1

Carolina 5
New Jersey 0

Pittsburgh 8
NY Islanders 2

Florida 4
NY Rangers 3

Philadelphia 2
Nashville 0

Chicago 3
Phoenix 0

Anaheim 5
Los Angeles 2