updated 5:00 p.m. ET March 15, 2009

NEW YORK - Sean Avery shook up the Philadelphia Flyers with his grit and his gift of gab. And just when they had enough of that, he beat them with his stick.

With a national TV spotlight on him, and a fired-up home crowd adoring his every agitating move, Avery scored two power-play goals and drew a pair of penalties to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-1 victory over the Flyers on Sunday.

“He gets the puck, and five guys on their team want to kill him,” linemate Scott Gomez said.

Avery has scored in three straight games and has four goals in that stretch. As it was during his first stint with the Rangers, before he was banished by the Dallas Stars for crude public comments, New York performs better with him in the lineup (4-2).

“The first couple of games I was just so nervous, kind of playing a little too hard,” Avery said. “I’m just trying to slow it down, think about the plays and where they’re going to end up.

“I feel good as far as just being happy that I’m out playing, and trying to play hard and help the team win. I’ve gotten some good bounces and I’ve gotten some good passes. It’s tough to explain. Obviously, the team playing better is something that helps a lot.”

Nik Antropov also scored a man-advantage goal for the Rangers, who matched their season high with three power-play tallies on nine chances and split a weekend home-and-home series with the Flyers.

“They took way too many penalties to be able to win this game, and our power play was outstanding,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 24 saves.

New York, which began the day eighth in the Eastern Conference, moved within four points of fourth-place Philadelphia. The teams have two meetings remaining.

Fredrik Sjostrom scored a wraparound goal at even strength to make it 4-1, giving the Rangers their fifth win in nine games (5-3-1) since John Tortorella replaced fired coach Tom Renney.

Tortorella’s 244th NHL win moved him into a tie with Peter Laviolette for the most victories by a U.S.-born coach.

Lundqvist earned his 31st win, allowing only Simon Gagne’s power-play goal in the second. He was already the first goalie to post 30 victories in each of his first four NHL seasons.

Avery staked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead in the first period and added his second in the third while New York enjoyed a 5-minute power play.

Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn was ejected in the closing seconds of the middle period after hitting Antropov in the head with his stick near center ice, drawing a match penalty. New York scored only once on the advantage, but coupled with Andrew Alberts’ charging infraction on Avery, Philadelphia was short-handed for the first 7 minutes of the third.

“It was retaliation,” Coburn said. “I was kind of protecting myself. I thought he was going to come at me again.”

Also on NBCSports.com Rosenthal: Saints win with aggressive ‘ambush’ Trash Talk: How will Manning rebound from loss? NBA: ProBasketballTalk is here! Check out new blog NCAA BK: Who's in, who's out? Updated bracket projections Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

Avery has four goals in seven games since rejoining New York, topping the three he had in 27 games earlier this season with Dallas. He got under the skin of Flyers forward Jeff Carter, who was called for hooking him in the first period.

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