Rangers deadlock series

This no-goal got the New York Rangers even with the Buffalo Sabres in more ways than one.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped Daniel Briere's shot just short of fully crossing the goal line with 17 seconds left, and the Rangers hung on for a 2-1 victory over the visiting Sabres last night to square the Eastern Conference semifinal series after four games.

Both teams had to wait out a lengthy video review for the second straight game. On Sunday, Rangers defenseman Karel Rachunek lost a goal when league officials in Toronto used a replay to determine he kicked the puck in.

The game went to double overtime, but a major controversy was avoided when the Rangers eventually won.

This time the call went New York's way.

"I guess it was really close," Briere said. "I think they misjudged the one last game. The Rangers' goal should have been a goal. For the sake of all, I hope they made the right call because that wouldn't be good - two games in a row, two critical goals disallowed."

Lundqvist dived onto his stomach and stopped Briere's stuff attempt with his right pad as the puck slid on the goal line but didn't fully cross.

"I just felt I was so late," Lund-qvist said. "I read the puck, but I think it bounced a little bit."

For the first time in five close goal calls in these playoffs, the Sabres didn't benefit from a video review.

"I believe I've seen a replay where it's in," said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan scored power-play goals, and Lundqvist made 29 saves to get the Rangers back in the series.

The best-of-seven matchup now shifts back to Buffalo, where the Sabres - the NHL's best team in the regular season - took a 2-0 lead. Now they will be feeling the heat from a nervous, title-starved town unwilling to accept anything less than the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Buffalo picked up the pace right after Ales Kotalik cut the Sabres' deficit to 2-1 at 9:04 into the third period, just 33 seconds after Shan-ahan's goal. The Sabres stormed for the tying goal during the final 10 minutes and outshot New York in the third, 11-4.

"We played good for 50 minutes, and the last minutes were a headache," Jagr said. "It was awful. We were lucky we won."

The pressure is back on the Presidents' Trophy winners, who have trailed in the third period in every game but the opener. After scoring an NHL-high 308 goals during the season, the Sabres have been held to five in three games following a 5-2 opening win.

* Detroit forward Tomas Holmstrom has been cleared to play tonight in Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks after being sidelined with an eye injury.

San Jose leads the series, 2-1.

Holmstrom has been out since April 22, when Calgary's Craig Conroy hit him with his stick in Detroit's series-winning victory over the Flames. The left wing had 30 goals and 22 assists during the regular season.

Holmstrom lost vision in the eye on the night of the incident, and his sight remained cloudy for a few days while team doctors evaluated him. *