What a difference a couple of trades make.

After general manager Glen Sather revamped the team with two minor trades, the Rangers have won three in a row - and seven of a possible eight points in four games - with a 4-1 win Carolina last night.

Both newcomers Pascal Dupuis and Sean Avery figured heavily into decision, with Dupuis scoring the third Blueshirt goal on the night and Avery had two assists, including one on Brendan Shanahan’s 28^th goal of the season in the third.

“I think we may have found a formula,” coach Tom Renney said to reporters in Carolina. “We made some roster moves and possibly created some more depth.”

Avery continued to play on the left side of Shanahan’s second line along with Michael Nylander for the third game in a row. He was able to cause havoc in front of the net, making life difficult for Hurricanes’ goaltender Cam Ward, who finished the night with 23 saves.

Matt Cullen, who centered the impressive third line with Dupuis and Jed Ortmeyer, saw better flow from the team, especially on the power play. He said, “With two groups, more players are involved and we've been scoring and creating momentum.”

Cullen and Dupuis momentum came at 16:19 in the second. Making it 3-1, Cullen hit the cutting Dupuis in front of the net for an easy one-time finish, which essentially iced the game for the Blueshirts.

That’s because the team played hard from the opening drop. Having a number of scoring chances, including two close ones from birthday boy Jaromir Jagr in the first, the Rangers finally broke through on the power play - their first of three man advantage goals on the night, with less than two minutes left in the period. With three Hurricanes going after the Captain in the corner, Michael Nylander was left all alone in front of the net and tapped it in.

But Carolina came back less than a minute later. Andrew Ladd was able to snap one past Henrik Lindquist [23 saves] to tie the game with a little less than 30 seconds left in the first.

It didn’t matter, though. Just as they came out in the first, the Rangers kept the momentum in the second and Karel Rachunek broke the tie, on the power play, at 5:40 with a slap shot from the point.

“It's only three games," said Jagr to reporters. “We need to win 20 more games. We've got 17 to go to make the playoffs.”

The Rangers will get a chance to get four points this weekend. Two winnable games come to the Garden with the Peter Forsberg-less Flyers skating on Saturday and the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

“If we're not playing good now, our season's pretty much over,” Cullen said to reporters. “This is our playoffs. If we don't win these games, we're done.”

Notes: The Rangers are converted six of their last nine power plays….This was the first win for the Blueshirts in Carolina since Dec. 31, 2002

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