Rangers 4, Flyers 1
Chris Kreider collected his team-leading 12th goal and added an assist and Daniel Carcillo scored against his former team as New York breezed to its seventh straight home victory over Philadelphia.
Rick Nash and Derick Brassard each tallied for the second consecutive contest as the Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first period. Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 37 shots as New York improved to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games and pulled into a second-place tie with Washington (51 points) in the Metropolitan Division - one ahead of the Flyers.
Defenseman Mark Streit scored a power-play goal in the third period for Philadelphia and Vincent Lecavalier notched his 500th career assist. The Flyers were unable to solve Lundqvist again and suffered their second straight loss after winning seven of their previous eight contests.
Carcillo began the fireworks 2:14 into the contest by converting a wraparound at the left post before Nash beat Ray Emery (31 saves) from the slot just 28 seconds later. Brassard gave New York a 3-0 lead at 9:24 with a blast from the left faceoff circle.
Kreider, who assisted on Nash's tally, tucked the puck past Emery for a power-play goal at 13:18 of the second period. Streit answered by blasting a shot from the point past a screened Lundqvist, who held the fort from there to record his first three-game winning streak of the season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York won for the fourth time in five home games and evened its mark at 10-10-3 at Madison Square Garden. ... The Rangers scored three times in the opening session, matching their season-high total for any period. ... Flyers captain Claude Giroux celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday and D Luke Schenn played in his 400th career game.