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Rangers' Sather steps down as coach

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - The losing, the chants and the lack of effort from his Rangers convinced Glen Sather it was time to start making changes, starting with himself.

Sather stepped down Wednesday as coach, staying on as president and general manager. There are more changes ahead as the March 9 trading deadline nears.

"There isn't anyone in the organization that has a no-trade in his contract, so I think when we get down to that stage we'll make some decisions," Sather said.

New York likely will miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season despite the highest payroll in the league.

Assistant coach Tom Renney was promoted to interim coach, and assistants Terry O'Reilly and Ted Green will remain on the staff.

The 60-year-old Sather has been booed recently by disgruntled fans, and chants of "Fire Sather!" have become common at Madison Square Garden.

"The chanting at the Garden was distracting to the players. They seemed to get uptight," Sather said.

Renney, coach of the Canucks from 1996-97, becomes the 32nd Rangers coach. He joined the team in July 2000 as director of player personnel and was named an assistant in the summer.

Sather, who took over from Bryan Trottier on Jan. 30, 2003, was 33-39-11-7 in 90 games. His career record is 497-307-121-7.

PANTHERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 0: Juraj Kolnik had two goals and an assist, and Roberto Luongo made 33 saves for his second straight shutout to help host Florida.

It was the sixth shutout of the season for Luongo, who beat Boston 2-0 Monday night. Luongo came in leading the league in saves and ranked second with a .934 save percentage.

Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, unbeaten in their past five (3-0-2). Florida moved within seven points of the idle Islanders for eighth place in the East.

Niklas Hagman also scored for the Panthers, and Mike Van Ryn and Valeri Bure each had two assists.

Mikael Tellqvist stopped 24 shots for the Leafs, who lost their second in a row and missed an opportunity to tie Philadelphia atop the East. Toronto has 80 points and trails Ottawa by one in the Northeast.

KINGS 1, STARS 1: Alexander Frolov's goal with 5:55 left in regulation lifted visiting Los Angeles into the tie.

Brenden Morrow gave Dallas the lead midway through the second period, and goaltender Marty Turco seemed headed for his second straight shutout before Frolov's 20th goal.

Frolov skated in alone on the right side and lifted the puck into the upper right corner of the net from the right circle.

Turco, who stopped 26 shots, salvaged the tie with a tumbling save against Michael Cammalleri from close range with 1:02 left.

The Stars stretched their home unbeaten streak to nine games (6-0-3), matching the Islanders for the league's longest current home streak.

The Stars have 71 points, five behind first-place San Jose in the Pacific. The Kings are third, trailing the Sharks by six points.

Stars center Mike Modano missed the final two periods with a strained groin sustained in the first period. Modano started the night fourth on the team in goals (12) and tied for third in assists (22). he is listed as day-to-day.

BLACKHAWKS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3: Tuomo Ruutu had two goals and an assist and Kyle Calder added the winning score and two assists for visiting Chicago.

HURRICANES 2, CAPITALS 1: Visiting Carolina got goals from Jeff O'Neill and Erik Cole and had 33 shots to the Capitals' 19 in its first victory in six games against Washington this season. The win gave Carolina points in five straight games.

PENGUINS 4, COYOTES 3: Visiting Pittsburgh snapped an 18-game winless streak when Ric Jackman scored with 3:12 left in overtime. The Penguins rallied from a two-goal deficit.

MIGHTY DUCKS 4, OILERS 2: Joffrey Lupul had his second two-goal game in the league and fellow rookie Chris Kunitz had two assists for host Anaheim. The Ducks snapped the Oilers' seven-game winning streak against them.

BLUE JACKETS: Center Andrew Cassels was activated from injured reserve after he missed 22 games with a broken foot. Defenseman Rostislav Klesla was placed on injured reserve with a sprained wrist, and defenseman Zenith Komarniski was recalled from AHL Syracuse.

CANUCKS: Markus Naslund skated with the team for the first time since his Feb. 16 concussion but was unsure when he might return to games.

RED WINGS: Defenseman Chris Chelios is day to day with a bruised right shoulder after he was injured against the Canucks on Tuesday. Chelios was falling after being tied up with Daniel Sedin when 245-pound forward Todd Bertuzzi tripped over a Detroit player and landed on Chelios.

WILD: Goaltender Johan Holmqvist was recalled from AHL Houston to back up Manny Fernandez, who is expected to start this week in place of Dwayne Roloson, whose father died Monday of a stomach aneurysm.