GLENDALE, Ariz. -- New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault is the newest member of the NHL's 500-win club.
Rick Nash scored his NHL-leading 35th goal to spark a four-goal third period and lead the New York Rangers to a 5-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday, giving Vigneault the milestone win.
He is the 21st coach in NHL history to reach 500 victories.
What was a tight game after two periods became a blowout in the third after Nash broke a 1-1 tie 79 seconds after the period began. New York has won three in a row, all on the road.
Goalie Cam Talbot, subbing for the injured Henrik Lundqvist, made 34 saves and denied Arizona's Tobias Rieder on a penalty shot with 13:40 left and the Rangers leading by a goal. Talbot is 4-1-1 in place of Lundqvist, who isn't expected back until March.
Rookie Kevin Hayes made it 3-1 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 11:54. Defenseman Marc Staal and ex-Coyote Lee Stempniak scored insurance goals for New York, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight games. The Rangers (33-16-5) remained four points behind the first-place New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. The teams will meet Monday on Long Island.
Chris Kreider scored in the first minute of the second period for the Rangers and Antoine Vermette matched him for the Coyotes. But Arizona, who was burned by a hat trick from 31-goal scorer Joe Pavelski in a 4-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks here Friday, was done in by another of the league's elite scorers.
Nash has six goals and 12 points in his past 15 games against the Coyotes.
Arizona (20-30-7) has lost seven in a row at home and is 5-13-4 in its past 22 games at Gila River Arena. Mike Smith made 28 saves for the Coyotes.
The teams combined for 16 shots in a fast-paced first period, and the goalies had to be sharp to keep the game scoreless.
Smith, who had his 2013-14 season ended by a knee injury against the Rangers in New York last March, had to make big saves in close on rebound chances by Martin St. Louis, J.T. Miller and two digs near the goal line by Dominic Moore as New York crashed the net with regularity.
Talbot was tested as well, stopping Lauri Korpikoski twice - once in the slot during one of two Arizona power plays and once in the final minute when a shot slipped through his pads but trickled just wide of the right post.
The Rangers need all of 55 seconds of the second period to grab a lead. Kreider took a Derek Stephan pass on the wing at center ice, flew past a flat-footed Michael Stone, cut across the crease and dumped a backhander past Smith at the far post.
Kreider's 13th of the season gave the Rangers the first goal for the 34th time in 54 games this season. New York has scored first in 18 of its past 24 games.
The Coyotes tied the game at 6:33. Lucas Lessio whiffed on a free puck in the crease, but he ran down the puck and got it to Oliver Ekman-Larsson for a shot that Talbot saved. However, Vermette went to his knees to get inside position on New York's Tanner Glass and banged home the rebound. Vermette's 12th goal was his third in the past 21 games.
The goalies took over for the rest of the period. Smith stoned Kreider on another backhand chance, denied Nash in the slot and stopped Miller from in tight. Talbot made the save of the period in the final minute, denying Rieder with a quick-reaction stop.
But Nash started the huge Rangers third period with a snap shot from the right faceoff dot that pinged off the near post and into the net 1:19 into the third period. After Talbot stopped Rieder's backhand try on the penalty shot, Hayes' shorthanded goal, which extended his personal points streak to five games, opened the floodgates for New York.
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