Grabner's hat trick helps Rangers beat Hurricanes
NEW YORK -- Henrik Lundqvist overcame a shaky early goal to make 32 saves and Michael Grabner had a hat trick as the New York Rangers edged the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Two of Grabner's three goals were scored into an empty net in the final minutes. David Desharnais and Paul Carey also scored to give the Rangers (14-10-2) their fifth win in six games.
The Hurricanes (10-9-5) have lost four of five. Justin Williams scored the team's lone goal and Scott Darling stopped 21 of 24 shots to take the loss.
Williams scored 56 seconds into the first period on the game's second shot. He launched a slap shot from just inside the blue line that somehow beat an unscreened Lundqvist to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.
Darling allowed a goal of his own 37 seconds into the second period with the Rangers on a power play. He misplayed a dump-in and, as the puck bounced off his stick toward the crease, Desharnais was there to score the easy goal and tie the game at 1.
Grabner gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead 1:15 later with the teams skating 4-on-4. Kevin Shattenkirk found a cutting Grabner, who skated past Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk and redirected the puck past Darling for his 11th goal of the season.
Jeff Skinner had a chance to tie the game at 3:20 of the third period when he was awarded a penalty shot after defenseman Shattenkirk slashed him on a breakaway. But Lundqvist turned aside the penalty shot with his left pad.
Brady Skjei nearly gave the Rangers an insurance goal about six minutes later, but Darling made a desperation right pad save with Skjei all alone in front of the net.
Grabner iced the game with his 12th and 13th goals of the season, both into empty nets. He escaped along the right wing in the neutral zone, took a pass from defenseman Ryan McDonagh and scored into an empty net with 2:13 remaining, then collected a bouncing puck and chipped into the net with 1:12 remaining.
Carey scored a power-play goal with 39.3 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.
NOTES: The Hurricanes open December by playing nine of 11 games on the road. ... Hurricanes D Klas Dahlbeck and RW Josh Jooris were scratches. ... Rangers C Mika Zibanejad (concussion) missed his second straight game, and the team has given no timetable for his return. ... Rangers D Ryan McDonagh returned to the lineup after missing four games with an abdominal strain. He had an assist in 22:54 of ice time. ... G Henrik Lundqvist won his 418th game, tying him with Blackhawks G Tony Esposito for second-most all-time with one franchise.