Rangers dominate Blues, 5-0
NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers showed their high-powered offense once again Tuesday as they throttled the St. Louis Blues 5-0 at Madison Square Garden.
Five players scored for the Rangers, who have won five of six are averaging a league-best four goals per game.
Rookie left winger Jimmy Vesey scored his sixth goal and added two assists; left winger Rick Nash and right winger Mats Zuccarello scored their fifth goals; center Kevin Hayes scored his third and defenseman Dan Girardi added his second.
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist posted the shutout by making 35 saves.
Blues goaltender Jake Allen was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Backup goaltender Carter Hutton stopped eight of nine in relief.
Girardi's second of the season gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 9:57 of the first period. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo couldn't control the puck as he was trying to exit zone and turned it over to Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. The puck was moved to Girardi, whose blast tipped off the stick of Blues right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and past Allen for a 4-on-4 goal.
Vesey's sixth goal 2:34 later on an abbreviated power play extended the lead to 2-0. Center Derek Stepan fed Vesey in the slot for a quick stick-side shot that caught Allen leaning the wrong way.
The Rangers scored twice more in the second period, with Nash banking a puck off Allen from behind the goal line to make it 3-0 at 11:11. Allen made the initial save but Nash flipped the puck toward the crease, where it ricocheted off Allen's pads and into the net.
Zuccarello's fifth of the season at 12:55 was the Rangers' second power-play goal of the game and ended Allen's night. Left winger Chris Kreider delivered a pass across the top of the crease for Zuccarello to tap home between the skates of defenseman Joel Edmundson to increase the lead to 4-0.
Hayes made it 5-0 with 1:43 remaining in the second when he converted a 3-on-1 rush after Vesey fed left winger J.T. Miller in the middle and Miller dished to Hayes for the top-shelf shot past Hutton.
NOTES: Blues D Jay Bouwmeester played his 1,000th career NHL game. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 10, 2002, as a member of the Florida Panthers. ... St. Louis D Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) did not play although he did travel with the team for its two-game road trip to New York and Dallas. ... Rangers LW Chris Kreider was back in the lineup after a four-game absence due to neck spasms. ... The Rangers scratched LW Oscar Lindberg to make room for Kreider.