Rick Nash scored his career-best 42nd goal, while Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves as the New York Rangers moved closer to securing home-ice advantage for the playoffs with a 6-1 victory on Saturday over the New Jersey Devils.
Keith Yandle and Dominic Moore scored 25 seconds apart in a three-goal first period. Derek Stepan added a short-handed goal in the second, while Derick Brassard and Moore tallied in the third.
It was the Rangers’ third straight win. They are tied with Anaheim for the most points in the league — 107 — and are three ahead of Montreal and Tampa Bay in the race for the best mark in the Eastern Conference.
Photo: AFP
Lundqvist was exceptional throughout. Playing for the fourth time since returning from a neck injury that sidelined him for almost two months, Lundqvist withstood an early push by the Devils and made at least a half-dozen saves.
New Jersey did not score until Tuomo Ruutu tallied with 3 minutes, 30 seconds to play.
Nash gave the Rangers the lead about five minutes after the opening faceoff, deflecting a Mats Zuccarello pass past Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who was replaced by Keith Kinkaid after giving up three goals on six shots.
Nick Foligno scored three times as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 to set a franchise record with their ninth consecutive win.
It was Foligno’s first hat-trick in his 541st career NHL game.
Matt Calvert and Scott Hartnell also scored, and Brandon Dubinsky assisted on all three of Foligno’s goals, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves as the Blue Jackets won for the 11th time in 13 games. Marko Dano added two assists.
Columbus, already eliminated from post-season contention, scored four consecutive goals after trailing 2-0 late in the second period.
Sidney Crosby, Brandon Sutter and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Penguins, just 3-7-1 in their past 11 games and still not assured of a playoff berth. Ian Cole had two assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves.
Kyle Turris scored on a breakaway 3 minutes, 14 seconds into overtime to lift the Ottawa Senators over the Washington Capitals 4-3.
Turris stripped the puck away inside his own blue line before racing down the ice and beating Braden Holtby through his legs.
Clark MacArthur, Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad had first-period goals for the Senators, who remain in contention for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa is three points back for the final wildcard spot.
Lee Stempniak scored twice, while Mathieu Perreault had three assists as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-4, to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Jim Slater, Michael Frolik and Mark Scheifele also scored for Winnipeg.
Alexandre Burrows had two goals for Vancouver, and Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin also tallied.
Ondrej Pavelec made 26 saves for the Jets and Eddie Lack stopped 31 of 36 shots he faced for the Canucks.
Elsewhere, the Detroit Red Wings outlasted the Minnesota Wild 3-2 and the Dallas Stars kept their faint playoff hopes alive by beating the Nashville Predators 4-3.
The New York Islanders earned a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 4-0, the Arizona Coyotes topped the San Jose Sharks 5-3 and the Calgary Flames routed the Edmonton Oilers 4-0.
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