Associated Press
NEW YORK – Rangers rookie Derek Stepan scored the tying goal late in regulation (see KEY MOMENT below) and Erik Christensen netted the only goal in the shootout as New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Coyotes on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Martin Biron turned aside Lee Stempniak, Radim Vrbata and Eric Belanger in the shootout to make Christensen's first-round tally stand up.

Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera was in line for his third straight win before Stepan tied the score with 5:43 left in regulation.

Dan Girardi had a goal and assist, and Brandon Prust scored a short-handed goal for the Rangers (20-13-1), who have won 10 of 14. Biron made 33 saves.

Taylor Pyatt and Adrian Aucoin scored in the opening six minutes, and Martin Hanzal added a goal in the second period, but the Coyotes (14-9-7) fell to 0-1-1 on a critical six-game trip.

New York outshot the Coyotes 5-0 in overtime and had the best scoring chance, but Marian Gaborik fired a puck over the net during a two-on-one rush.

Pyatt scored 1:27 in and Aucoin made the score 2-0 just 4:26 later. LaBarbera nearly got over a gaffe that led to New York's second goal and finished with 30 saves.

Trailing 3-1, the Rangers got one back with 5.1 seconds left in the second period off a miscue by LaBarbera, while New York was killing a penalty.

Girardi fired the puck from his end down the ice toward the right corner. Prust chased it while LaBarbera glided toward the puck. The goalie failed to get to it before it reached the corner, and then wasn't allowed to play the puck because it was outside the trapezoid.

Prust beat LaBarbera, whom the Rangers drafted in 1998, back to the net and shoved a shot in while the goalie was sprawling on his back.

"We're finding ways to shoot ourselves in the foot right now," Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said. "We've got to clean some of that up. That should be a game... that you should be able to close the game out."

Ilya Bryzgalov did not dress because of the flu. With no time to call up a backup goalie from the minors, the scrambling Coyotes signed 26-year-old Tom Fenton, a former college player who works in the communications department of Manhattanville College in nearby Purchase, N.Y. Fenton spent the game on the bench, soaking in his unexpected moment of fame.

• Click here to listen to Fenton talk about his unique experience.

Phoenix got the jump early on the Rangers with a little bit of help from the Madison Square Garden boards.

Kyle Turris dumped the puck into the New York zone from center ice and it took a funny bounce when it reached the left corner. As Biron went behind the net to wait for the puck that never came, it caromed out in front to Pyatt, who tucked a shot inside the left post before the goalie got back into position at 1:27. The goal was scored 21 seconds into a Coyotes' power play.

Photo by Getty Images.

Phoenix used the man advantage again to push its lead to 3-1 in the second period. Once again, Biron was out of place.

Coyotes defenseman Ray Whitney sent a pass from the high slot across to captain Shane Doan, who skated around diving Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. Doan kept his head up and spotted Hanzal unchecked in front of the crease for an easy goal into an empty net at 9:43.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Vest of phoenixcoyotes.com contributed to this recap.

Rangers rookie forward Derek Stepan tied the score, 3-3, by putting in a second rebound with 5:43 left in regulation. New York captain Chris Drury, in just his third game this season, won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to defenseman Michal Rozsival at the blue line.

Rozsival's shot was stopped, as was Drury's rebound attempt, but Stepan got to the puck at the left post and scored his eighth goal. The Rangers had been behind for all but 1:27 of the game before Stepan tied the score.

► Click here to watch the KEY MOMENT.

• Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov did not dress because of the flu. In his place, the Coyotes dressed emergency amateur goalie Tom Fenton. Click here to read more about Fenton's experience.

• Defenseman Adrian Aucoin's goal in the first period was his first of the season and first in 38 games dating to March 20.

• Defenseman Keith Yandle played 29:34 and took a game-high seven shots on goal.

• Winger Ray Whitney played in his 1,100 career NHL game. He marked the occassion by assisting on center Martin Hanzal's goal in the second period.

• Phoenix dropped to 1-3 in shootouts this season and to 1-4-5 vs. teams from the Eastern Conference.

• The Coyotes scratched Ilya Bryzgalov (flu), Oliver Ekman-Larsson, David Schlemko and Wojtek Wolski.

• The Coyotes' next game is on Saturday vs. the New York Islanders at Nassau Memorial Coliseum. The puck drops at 5 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona and can be heard on XTRA Sports 910 (AM).

"I just misjudged it (the puck) coming down the wall. It was coming faster than I thought it was and it was right on the wall. I didn't want to touch it because I was worried it would spit out to the middle, and I was hoping 'Mo' (Derek Morris) was still behind me but he was more in the middle, and it just turned into a Gong Show from there." "If you look out West, it's a mess all the way down to 13th (place). Two points here, two points there, a point here, a point there, could cost you. We've got to get back on track." "After that second goal, 'Dru' (captain Chris Drury) skated by and slapped me in the pad and said, 'Show them what you got.' I felt pretty good that the captain skated by me and gave me a vote of confidence. That got me back into the game." LaBarbera Morris Biron