Vesey, Lundqvist lead Rangers to fifth straight victory
NEW YORK -- Jimmy Vesey scored twice and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves as the New York Rangers defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night for their fifth victory in a row.
Pavel Buchnevich and Rick Nash also scored for the Rangers (8-7-2), who are over .500 for the first time this season.
David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron scored for the Bruins (6-5-3). Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots and absorbed his seventh loss in 10 games (3-5-2).
Buchnevich's seventh goal of the season at 9:53 of the first period gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. He skated around Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara and chipped the puck over Rask's catching glove.
Pastrnak evened the score at 1 with his ninth goal of the season 21 seconds later. A one-timer from Patrice Bergeron went wide, but Pastrnak was able to drag the puck to the front of the net and stuff it through Lundqvist's legs.
Vesey scored his goals 29 seconds apart about five minutes later, both in similar fashion.
A scramble around the crease left Rask out of position. After Buchnevich had his shot blocked, Vesey was there for the rebound to give the Rangers a 2-1 edge at 14:41.
Vesey scored off another scramble at 15:10, when a point shot by defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk came to rest near Vesey at the side of the net for another rebound goal, his fourth of the season.
After a scoreless second period, Bergeron cut the lead to 3-2 with 13:16 remaining to the third period. Pastrnak didn't get much on a wrist shot from the blue line, but Bergeron was able to corral the puck in front of the net and sweep it past Lundqvist for his third goal of the season.
Nash put the game away with an empty-net goal with 7.7 seconds remaining and Rask on the bench for an extra skater.
NOTES: Bruins LW Brad Marchand missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Other key Bruins out of the lineup were C David Backes (diverticulitis), C Ryan Spooner (groin) and C David Krejci (upper body). ... D Zdeno Chara played his 834th career game for Boston, moving into fourth-place all-time among defensemen on the Bruins' games played list. ... Rangers RW Mats Zuccarello played his 400th career regular-season game. ... Rangers D Brendan Smith and C Boo Nieves were healthy scratches.