NEW YORK — A game against the out-of-it Vancouver Canucks, with former Islander Anthony Beauvillier in the lineup, looked like a great opportunity for the Rangers to pick up two easy points Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Ultimately, the Rangers did get the two points they were looking for, but probably made it a little closer than it needed to be, jumping out to an early lead and then effectively keeping the Canucks at bay in the third period to close out a 4-3 victory.
K'Andre Miller had a career-high three assists in the Rangers' third straight win and fourth in the last five (4-0-1).
Mika Zibanejad’s nifty deflection of a Jacob Trouba shot at 16:05 of the third period looked like insurance as it gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. But on the ensuing faceoff, Beauvillier shot the puck in off the back boards and Elias Pettersson got to it before Trouba could and jammed it past Igor Shesterkin (22 saves) to pull the Canucks within 4-3 at 16:16.
But the Rangers managed to hold on to the lead the rest of the way. They now have one more home game remaining, Friday against the Seattle Kraken, before they head out on a four-game road trip. They play in Carolina on Saturday, and then go to Western Canada for games against Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary next week.
Alexis Lafrenière, who had scored in overtime in the Rangers’ win Monday over Calgary, appeared for a time to have his second game-winner in a row, as his goal had put the Rangers up 3-1 late in the second period, and the Rangers carried a 3-2 lead for most of the third. The Kid Line of Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko continued to be red hot. Chytil also had a goal, his 19th of the season and his seventh in the last five games. He has a five-game goal streak.
Chris Kreider scored the 250th goal of his career, pulling him into a tie with Mark Messier for seventh place on the Rangers’ all-time goal-scoring list.
Coach Gerard Gallant stuck with the same lines he used Monday, which meant keeping Lafrenière, Chytil and Kakko together for the fifth straight game. As hot as they’ve been, Gallant was asked at Tuesday’s practice if he had to keep the trio together.
“It's all about the team, really,’’ he said. “I mean, we're winning hockey games. … So you don't want to tinker with it. But it doesn't hurt. I mean, if Kaapo goes up and happens to play the right wing with somebody else, I don't think it's going to hurt anything.’’
Chytil scored his seventh goal in the last five games to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 8:31 of the first period. Kreider’s 21st goal of the season opened the scoring at 6:53, when he drove to the back post and tapped in a feed from Vincent Trocheck. Chytil doubled the lead when he took a pass from Kakko in the lower left circle, cut to the middle and flicked a backhand, far side, past goalie Spencer Martin (17 saves).
Conor Garland’s goal, at 17:36 of the period, got Vancouver on the board before intermission, but Lafrenière got his second goal in two games when he happened to be standing in front of the goal as Trouba’s shot, which was partially blocked, slithered past Martin. The puck appeared likely to cross the goal line on its own, but Lafreniere nudged it in for his eighth goal of the season at 6:23 of the second. The goal came after the Canucks had dominated the Rangers for the first six or so minutes of the period.
After that goal, the Rangers started to control the game, but a giveaway in his own end by Ryan Lindgren, to former Ranger J.T. Miller, led to Vancouver’s Vasily Podkolzin scoring his first goal of the season, at 16:06, to pull the Canucks within 3-2.
