NEW YORK (AP) – Steve Rucchin and Petr Sykora combined to set up two goals, and the New York Rangers spoiled Brian Leetch’s return to Madison Square Garden with a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.

Rucchin and Sykora assisted on defenseman Michal Rozsival’s power-play goal in the first period and Martin Straka’s even-strength tally in the second for the Rangers, who won their third straight after a six-game losing streak and stretched their Atlantic Division-lead to four points over Philadelphia.

The Flyers will visit New York on Wednesday night in a pivotal contest with only four weeks left in the season. The Rangers haven’t reached the playoffs since 1997.

Boston had a two-game winning streak snapped and is 3-8-2 in its last 13 games. The Bruins are in 13th place and entered the night six points out of a playoff spot.

Leetch played a game against the Rangers for the first time in his 18 NHL seasons. He was with New York from 1988-2004 before being traded to Toronto, and received a warm welcome back from Rangers fans.

Many wore his former No. 2 on Monday night while Leetch was dressed in Boston whites with a 22 on the back.

The Rangers took leads of 3-0 and 4-1, but Boston responded quickly each time to cut the deficits back to two goals. Hal Gill scored his first in 88 games at 8:50 of the second, just 24 ticks after Straka’s goal that led to Bruins coach Mike Sullivan to burn his timeout.

Michael Nylander, chosen as NHL offensive player of the week earlier Monday, scored his 18th goal 6:18 into the third period. Brad Boyes followed up on his first NHL hat trick on Saturday with his 22nd goal of the season at 6:29.

Dominic Moore sealed it with 5:16 remaining, making it 5-2 and making it safe for Rangers fans to chant Leetch’s name as the clock wound down.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 19 shots for his third straight win. Tim Thomas made 24 saves for Boston.

Leetch, a first-round pick of the Rangers in 1986, set the franchise records for goals (240), assists (741) and points (981) by a defenseman. He was the MVP of the playoffs in 1994 when New York won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1940.

“I was proud to be a Ranger and I wanted to be here when things turned around,” he said.

“I was disappointed to leave and I still am.”

Leetch has many fond memories of his days in New York, but one won’t be Blair Betts’ short-handed goal in the second period that gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Rozsival trapped Leetch by the boards at the left point and poked the puck past him. Jason Ward carried it into the Boston zone and passed to Betts, who scored his sixth goal and New York’s fourth short-handed at 4:20.

Straka made it 3-0 at 8:26. Nylander and Moore’s goals gave the Rangers 15 – five in each game of their winning streak after netting only six total in their season-worst skid.

Notes: Only the New Jersey Devils, with two short-handed goals, have scored fewer than the Rangers. … New York RW Jaromir Jagr assisted on Nylander’s goal for his NHL-best 101st point. … Boyes has six goals and two assists during a six-game point streak. … Gill, a defenseman who hadn’t scored since Feb. 19, 2004, has 20 career goals. … Fans clapped politely when Leetch took a tripping penalty in the second period. … Straka and Rozsival also earned assists on Moore’s goal.

AP-ES-03-20-06 2145EST