NEW YORK -- Keith Yandle scored against his former team, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves to lift the New York Rangers to a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Kevin Hayes' goal at 2:35 of the third period was the game-winner, and the Rangers (5-2-1) won their second consecutive game after losing three in a row, including two in regulation.
Rick Nash was credited with his first goal of the season at 19:17 even though he never put the puck in the net. Nash was hooked on a breakaway with an empty net. It was his 700th career point. He scored 42 goals last season.
The Coyotes (3-3-1) won their first three games but have lost four in a row since, including three in regulation.
Yandle scored a power-play goal at 6:24 of the third period with a slap shot that hit off Coyotes defensemen Nicklas Grossmann and Connor Murphy before beating goalie Mike Smith (24 saves). It was Yandle's first goal of the season.
Arizona selected Yandle in the fourth round of the 2005 NHL Draft, and he played parts of nine seasons, a total of 558 games, with the Coyotes before he was traded to the Rangers on March 1.
Hayes made it 2-1 earlier in the third period, benefitting from a puck-handling gaffe by Smith behind the Coyotes goal.
Smith went behind the net to play the puck, but he gave it away. The puck hit off of Rangers forward J.T. Miller and went to Hayes on the goal line near the left post. Hayes had an open net with Smith scrambling back and he roofed a backhanded shot into the corner.
Rangers forward Chris Kreider's first goal of the season tied the game at 1-1 with 9:54 to play in the second period. Mats Zuccarello and Marc Staal had the assists.
The play started with Staal along the wall in the Rangers zone. The Coyotes forwards were making a line change, and Staal whipped a long, diagonal pass up to Zuccarello at the far blue line on the right wing wall. Kreider gained inside position on Murphy, and Zuccarello found him in the slot for a redirection goal past Smith.
Kreider scored 21 goals last season. He had no goals on 18 shots through the first seven games this season.
Zuccarello also had an assist on Yandle's goal.
Arizona took a 1-0 lead at 15:34 of the first period on defenseman Klas Dahlbeck's first goal of the season, the second of his career in his 30th game. Forwards Martin Hanzal and Max Domi had the assists.
Domi received the puck from Hanzal in his feet and played it to his stick. He stopped quickly to throw Miller off balance before delivering a tape-to-tape pass to Dahlbeck at the top of the left circle for a hard, low shot that beat Lundqvist on the stick side.
Dahlbeck's goal came on Arizona's second shot of the game. The Coyotes had five shots in the first period but followed with 14 in the second.
Arizona center Antoine Vermette did not return after leaving the game with a lower-body injury midway through the second period.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment