Rangers coach Tom Renney finds plenty of positive words to describe Michal Rozsival.

On Saturday, he called New York's most dependable defenseman a "warrior," for fighting his way back onto the ice after a knee injury. When Rozsival lifted the Rangers to a double-overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, Renney referred to him as a "champion."

Rozsival said little to praise himself after he scored the goal that gave the Rangers a 2-1 victory in Game 3 and got them back in the series against the high-flying Sabres.

He went with "lucky."

"I was lucky enough that I had a lucky shot, and I just tried to put it on net," Rozsival said after the Rangers' longest game in exactly 36 years ended 16:43 into the second overtime. "Anything can happen when you put it on the net."

Buffalo still leads the Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1, but the Rangers can get even Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden.

Rozsival led New York's defensemen this season with 10 goals and 40 points. And with an injured left knee that knocked him out for most of the series opener, Rozsival came back in Game 2 and gritted his way through, despite getting nicked up again.

His status was questionable Sunday but not really in doubt. Rozsival was back on the blue line and played a game-high 38 minutes, 16 seconds. All important minutes as the Rangers avoided a 3-0 hole against the Sabres, the NHL's top team in the regular season.

"That's what champions look like," Renney said. "Those guys that get the opportunity to lift the Stanley Cup are pretty beat up, and Rozie is a pretty good example of that."

In the only other game Sunday night, Anaheim defeated Vancouver 3-2 and leads that Western Conference semifinal series 2-1.