Rangers beat Predators, stop losing streak
NEW YORK -- Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.
Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves, including all nine he faced in the third period with the Predators pushing for the tying goal. Jimmy Vesey scored into an empty net with 38.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
The Predators outshot the Rangers 9-3 in the third period.
Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast also scored for the Rangers (2-5-2).
The Predators (4-3-1) received goals from Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg. Backup goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 11 shots.
After falling behind early in their past two games, the Rangers took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission.
Fast made it 1-0 with 5:02 left in the period by trailing Hayes to the net and jamming home a rebound after Saros stopped the breakaway chance by Hayes.
J.T. Miller won a board battle with the Rangers on a power play and set up Kreider for his first goal of the season with 25.7 seconds left in the period.
Ekholm cut the lead in half 1:44 into the second period by ripping a slap shot from between the circles that beat Lundqvist's glove side to make the score 2-1.
Hayes restored the two-goal lead at 12:46 by skating around Predators defenseman Matt Irwin and flipping a shot over Saros' catching glove.
The Predators responded less than three minutes later when Roman Josi's shot from the left wing deflected off Forsberg in front of the net and trickled past Lundqvist to make it 3-2.
Saros went to the bench for an extra skater with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. There was an immediate scramble around Lundqvist's crease but Predators forward Craig Smith was unable to get his stick on the puck with the goaltender down on the ice.
NOTES: The Nashville Predators placed C Nick Bonino (lower body) on injured reserve. The team expects him to miss a couple of weeks. ... Predators D Yannick Weber was activated from injured reserve and inserted into the lineup. ... The Predators scratched D Samuel Girard, D Anthony Bitteto and LW Ponts Aberg. ... The New York Rangers dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Their one lineup change from their previous game was scratching C Adam Cracknell and inserting D Nick Holden. ... The Rangers also scratched D Steve Kampfer and C Paul Carey.