NEW YORK ­— Robin Lehner dreamed of a night like this, playing in goal at Madison Square Garden, across the rink from his boyhood hero, Henrik Lundqvist.

And now the dreamy ending to complete it: a 3-2 victory over Lundqvist and the Rangers, ending Ottawa’s four-game winless string on the road.

As a boy in Sweden, Lehner’s father, Michael, used to instruct Lundqvist on goaltending techniques, with Robin soaking it all up. When he learned of his start Friday against the Rangers, Lehner called it “surreal” to face Lundqvist. Now he has beaten him.

A third Swede played hero. Senators forward Jakob Silfverberg snapped a puck over Lundqvist’s glove for the winning goal with less than five minutes remaining in the third period. A shot by Eric Gryba caused the rebound that Silfverberg converted.

The Senators DO love New York. They are now 12-1-1 in their past 14 regular-season games at MSG. The loss by New York ended a four-game Rangers’ winning streak.

This one took an odd turn when Senators defenceman Chris Phillips recorded an unusual 19-minute penalty string after jumping in on Rangers forward Micheal Haley in the first period. Phillips didn’t like Haley’s hit on Jim O’Brien as O’Brien skated out from around the Senators’ goal.

For his valour, Phillips was handed two minutes for instigating, another two for instigating while wearing a visor, five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct. Haley received two for charging and five for fighting.

When the ice chips settled, the Senators had a two-minute minor to kill and lost a key defenceman for nearly one-third of the game.

It was Phillips’ first fight since October, 2009 when he fought a more familiar pugilist by the name of Zenon Konopka, then with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Senators finally earned a lead on the road when Zack Smith proved his goal in Toronto was no fluke. After recording his first of the season against the Maple Leafs in Wednesday’s 5-4 loss, Smith extended his goal-scoring streak by getting the first of the night in Manhattan.

Daniel Alfredsson deserves most of the credit. The captain controlled the puck in the Rangers’ zone before sliding a pass just inside the blue-line to Sergei Gonchar, whose wrist shot was tipped by Smith. Smith could not have willed the puck to take a crazier hop, as it bounced past the stick side of Lundqvist into the goal.

Just like that, Smith justified his promotion to first-line centre alongside Alfredsson and Milan Michalek.

The Senators took a two-goal lead on a Patrick Wiercioch power-play shot from the point, although the margin didn’t last long. Just 13 seconds later, Rick Nash beat Lehner on a long shot he wanted back.

It was Nash’s ninth of the season, but the first that he’s scored outside of the third period, prompting some in New York to give him the handle of Mr. Third Period.

The first period was dramatic enough, with the Phillips fight and four goals scored on the Swedish netminders. Lehner looked disgusted when a Brad Richards shot beat him high to the glove side, evening the score at 22 at 17:39 of the first.

CHEERS

The Lehner save on Derek Stepan in the third period, sliding across to get his blocker on a shot when Stepan was all alone in front.

JEERS

A giveaway by Gonchar sent the Rangers away for the tying goal.

WHY THEY WON

The Senators finally earned a lead on the road, the foundation for third-period heroics.

wscanlan@ottawacitizen.com

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