CHICAGO – Chris Simon scored midway through the third period to lift the New York Rangers to a 2-2 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.

Simon beat goalie Michael Leighton with a quick shot from 25 feet at 10:18 of the third. He pounced on a loose puck after Chicago rookie Igor Radulov couldn’t handle a pass.

Mark Messier added a short-handed goal for New York, 1-3-1-1 in its last six games.

Kyle Calder and Brett McLean scored for the Blackhawks, who snapped a four-game losing streak, but remained winless in five. Chicago is 0-2-1-2 during that span.

New York goalie Mike Dunham made 39 saves. Leighton blocked 32 shots.

The Blackhawks failed to capitalize on five power-play chances, including the span of nearly six minutes with a man advantage late in the second period. The Rangers were 0-for-4 on the power play.

Calder opened the scoring on a tip-in from a faceoff with 2:33 left in the first period. After Tyler Arnason won the draw in the left circle, Calder deflected in Bryan Berard’s low shot from the point.

The Blackhawks enjoyed a continuous 5:49 span with at least a one-man advantage late in the second, but failed to score.

Thrashers 5, Panthers 2

ATLANTA – Francis Lessard and Tommi Santala scored their first NHL goals and the Atlanta Thrashers broke a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Shawn McEachern and Daniel Tjarnqvist added their first goals of the season for the Thrashers.

Pasi Nurminen stopped 26 shots as the Thrashers’ defense finally tightened up after allowing 23 goals in the previous six games. It also was the first time in six games Atlanta allowed fewer than three goals.

Trailing 2-0 after two periods, Florida tied the game on goals by Niklas Hagman and Vaclav Nedorost in the first 1:45 of the third. But Santala netted the game-winner at 6:15, streaking into the slot and sweeping in a pass from behind the net.

McEachern scored his first goal at 15:40, and Tjarnqvist added a goal 39 seconds later for the final margin.

The Thrashers also stayed above .500 at 8-7-3-1 and pulled within two points of idle Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division.

Blue Jackets 2, Coyotes 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Andrew Cassels scored with 41.9 seconds left in regulation to rally the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-2 tie with the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday night.

The Coyotes went to overtime for the fifth consecutive game (2-0-2-1).

Daymond Langkow had a goal and an assist, and Ladislav Nagy added a goal for Phoenix, each stretching their points streaks to five games.

Rick Nash scored his 10th goal to end a Columbus scoring drought early in the second period.

Columbus goaltender Marc Denis, who had 29 saves, stopped Jan Hrdina in the slot early in the final period with Phoenix trying to extend a 2-1 lead. Landon Wilson rocketed a shot off the post with 6:30 remaining, and Denis denied Brian Savage on a breakaway with 1:12 left.

With Denis off the ice for a man advantage, Geoff Sanderson pushed the puck away from a defender and through the zone. Cassels was crashing the net and was able to control the puck, sliding it past Phoenix goaltender Sean Burke, who finished with 25 saves.

Mighty Ducks 4, Blues 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Steve Rucchin scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on a power play early in the third period, to lead the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Anaheim got off to a quick start when Jason Krog and Vitaly Vishnevski scored 69 seconds apart in the first period for a 2-0 lead. Vishnevski also had two assists as Anaheim ended the Blues’ five-game winning streak. Peter Cajanek, Pavol Demitra and Eric Nickulas scored for the Central Division-leading Blues.

Rucchin put the Ducks ahead to stay with 15:06 to play, scoring his eighth goal of the season with Bryce Salvador off the ice serving a roughing penalty. It was the 18th two-goal game and third this season for Rucchin.

Rucchin’s first goal put the Ducks ahead 3-2 at 14:06 of the second period. But Nickulas tied it less than two minutes later, beating goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the stick side with a 15-foot wrist shot.

The Blues tied it 2-all at 17:06 of the first as Cajanek and Demitra scored 75 seconds apart against last season’s playoff MVP. Demitra’s came on a power play while Ruslan Salei was off for hooking Demitra.

The Ducks scored on two of their first four shots against Brent Johnson – starting for the first time in five games after watching Chris Osgood post two shutouts in St. Louis’ last three contests.

Krog converted a rebound of Vishnevski’s slap shot from the left point at 8:45 of the first. Johnson then fanned on a seemingly harmless wrist shot by Vishnevski from the right point while trying to glove it. The goal was the Anaheim defenseman’s first goal in 23 games dating back to last March 13.

Notes: Mike Babcock’s regular-season record as Anaheim coach is 47-34-10-9. Ron Wilson was 38-56-6 in his first 100 games as Ducks coach, and Craig Hartsburg was 43-41-15-1. … The Blues will start practicing at a new facility when they return home, moving to the St. Louis Mills mall in Hazelwood, Mo., after five years at the Summit Center in Chesterfield, Mo. … Anaheim’s next game is Tuesday at Colorado, where Giguere will attempt to end his 0-4 start on the road. … St. Louis’ Keith Tkachuk served the second game of his three-game suspension for a cross-checking incident against San Jose’s Rob Davison. Doug Weight completed his four-game suspension for his cross-check to the head of Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin.

AP-ES-11-16-03 2245EST