Rangers Beat Canucks 7-2 For Third Straight Win

Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller each scored two goals, Henrik Lundqvist made 36 saves, and the New York Rangers defeated the Canucks 7-2 in Vancouver on Tuesday for their third consecutive victory.

Rangers Beat Canucks 7-2 For Third Straight Win

Brandon Pirri, Nick Holden and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Rangers (13-4-0), who have now won eight of their last nine games. Their only loss came against Vancouver last Tuesday, and they lead the NHL with 72 goals.

“That’s been the story so far, everybody producing,” Miller said. “Obviously, it’s surprising scoring at the rate we’re scoring at right now, but we’ve got every line chipping in, and that’s one of the hardest things to stop and it’s something we’ve been doing since Game One.”

For the second straight game, New York was missing two of their top forwards due to injuries: Chris Kreider (upper body) and Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms).

Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund scored for Vancouver (6-10-1), while Lucas Sbisa had two assists.

The Rangers led 1-0 after the first period after Miller opened scoring with 1:18 remaining, and extended their advantage at 9:08 of the second with Hayes’ seventh of the season on a slap-shot that beat Jacob Markstrom shortside. Markstrom stopped 18 shots in taking the loss. The Canucks outshout the Rangers 17-10 in the opening period.

New York then made it 3-0 on the power play at 14:38 when Pirri slotted home his fifth of the season off Mika Zibanejad’s rebound.

The Canucks finally scored with 40.1 remaining in the second when Sutter threw a puck on net from the sideboards that slipped past Lundqvist with Henrik Sedin right in front for his third.

Granlund then knocked a loose puck out of the air with 6:34 remaining in the third to cut the Rangers’ lead to 5-2.

Lundqvist praised Vancouver for their hard work.

“But in the end you could see it was one team with a lot of confidence and one team looking for more,” he said.

The Canucks came in having won two of three following Saturday’s 5-4 overtime victory against Dallas after losing nine straight, and had several opportunities after Hayes put New York up by two, although they failed to register shots.

Vancouver beat New York 5-3 in Manhattan on Nov. 8, a win that snapped an ugly nine-game losing streak and represented the team’s only points on a six-game road trip.

Miller tipped Zuccarello’s cross-ice pass between his legs and past a sliding Markstrom for his first goal.

“He’s a special passer, so I am just trying to go to the net and get a piece of that. I practice those a lot,” Miller said.

Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi made a few key saves to back Lundqvist, including one where he reached out with his glove on a Granlund back-door one-timer, getting enough of the shot to knock it down into Lundqvist as he slid across and into a two-pad stack.

“Girardi saved a couple goals tonight,” Lundqvist said.

The Rangers will next visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, while the Canucks will host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

VANCOUVER, BC – NOVEMBER 15: Goalie Jacob Markstrom #25 of the Vancouver Canucks stops J.T. Miller #10 of the New York Rangers during the first period in NHL action on November 15, 2016 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)