Nash lifts Rangers over Kings
NEW YORK -- Rick Nash scored a tiebreaking goal with 3:27 remaining in the third period to help the New York Rangers to a 4-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 33 shots for the Rangers, who had lost three of four entering the game.
Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes also scored for New York (17-12-3). J.T. Miller added his fifth of the season into an empty net with 53.4 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
The Kings (20-10-3) have dropped two straight games after winning eight in a row.
Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist and Torrey Mitchell scored for the Kings, who received 24 saves from goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Kreider's 11th goal of the season put the Rangers ahead 1-0 at 10:23 of the first period. Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the blue line bounced off Kreider in front of the net and past Quick to open the scoring.
Gaborik evened the game at 1 in the second period with his fifth goal in 11 games this season. He elected to shoot from the left wing on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Lundqvist between the legs with a snapshot at 3:46.
Hayes made it 2-1 with 5:17 remaining in the second period. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh drew two defenders to him while crossing the blue line and slipped the puck to Hayes, who wristed the puck past Quick's blocker for his seventh of the season.
Mitchell's second goal of the season at 7:59 of the third period ties the game at 2. Gaborik's backhand shot from near the crease was kicked away by Lundqvist but the puck landed right on Mitchell's stick blade for the easy goal.
Nash put the Rangers ahead with an unassisted goal late in the third period, grabbing a loose puck in the neutral zone and beating Quick with a long wrist shot stick-side for his ninth goal.
The Kings pulled Quick for an extra attacker with a little less than two minutes remaining in regulation but were unable to find the tying goal.
NOTES: Kings LW Marian Gaborik played in his 1,000th career regular-season game. The 35-year-old played 255 games with the Rangers between 2009 and 2013. ... The Kings scratched D Oscar Fantenberg, LW Andy Andreoff and C Jonny Brodzinski. ... Rangers C Mika Zibanejad (concussion) missed his eighth consecutive game and is not expected to play Saturday when the Rangers visit the Boston Bruins. ... Rangers D Steven Kampfer was a healthy scratch.