Rangers 3, Hurricanes 0
NEW YORK -- Two goals 11 seconds apart from right winger Jesper Fast and left winger Rick Nash along with 33 saves from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist helped give the New York Rangers a 3-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
The Rangers have won six straight and sit three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the league's best record.
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh scored his first goal of the season 13 seconds into third period.
Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward turned aside 20 of 23 shots.
The Rangers were held to three shots in the first two periods but two found their way into back of the net.
Fast's third of the season at 9:21 gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. A shot by right winger Emerson Etem came to rest in the slot and Fast's spinning shot beat Ward to the blocker side.
Eleven seconds later, Nash scored his second of the season to make it 2-0. Right winger Mats Zuccarello threaded the puck to Nash, who deked around Ward for his first goal since he was awarded an empty-net goal Oct. 22 against the Coyotes.
The Hurricanes' best chance to score over the first 40 minutes occurred with 1:45 remaining in the second period. Left winger Jeff Skinner had the puck just outside the crease but his shot clanked off the post and out the other side of the net.
McDonagh put the game out of reach early in the third period. After taking a pass from Nash, McDonagh fired a shot that bounced off the skate of Hurricanes defenseman Ron Hainsey and into the net to give the Rangers a 3-0 edge.
The Hurricanes had two power-play chances in the third period and came up empty. They were 0-for-6 on the man advantage overall, generating just eight shots in 12 minutes.
NOTES: Hurricanes D Brett Pesce, a native of Tarrytown, N.Y., played his first game at MSG. Teammates allowed Pesce to take a solo lap at the start of warmups. ... Hurricanes LW Joakim Nordstrom played for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury Oct. 13. ... The Hurricanes scratched D Noah Hanifin, C Andrej Nestrasil and LW Brad Malone. ... The return of LW Rick Nash resulted in C Dominic Moore sitting as a healthy scratch. Moore had not missed a game since the 2013-14 season. ... Rangers D Dylan McIlrath was also a healthy scratch.