The New York Rangers spotted the Tampa Bay Lightning two goals and 20 minutes on Sunday.

Then the Rangers took off. Four goals in a 12:38 span of the second period, closing the pre-Olympic part of their schedule with a 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden.

Sean Avery’s penalty shot 100 seconds into the second period jump-started the Rangers, who enter the Olympics with victories in three of their past four games. The win also ties New York with the Lightning for ninth place in the Eastern Conference at 63 points, one point behind eighth-place Montreal and one point ahead of 11th-place Atlanta.

After Avery’s goal made it 2-1, Vinny Prospal tied the game at 6:07 of the second. Erik Christensen broke the tie with the first of his two goals at 12:06, and he scored again 1:46 later to make it 4-2.

Chris Drury scored an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left for the Rangers, who return to action March 2 at Ottawa.

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