Rangers finish 4-game sweep of Devils
NEWARK, N.J. — Birthday boy Mika Zibanejad scored a power-play goal with three minutes to play and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Sunday to sweep a four-game series over the past six days.
Chris Kreider, Vitali Kravtsov, Alexis Lafreniere and Ryan Strome also scored as the Rangers extended their season-high point streak to six games (5-0-1). Alexandar Georgiev, who had to leave the ice late in the first period with a lower-body injury only to return, finished with 25 saves as New York improved to 13-4-3 in its past 20 games.
The win kept New York four points behind Boston in the East with 11 games left in the regular season. The Bruins, who have played two fewer games, beat Washington 6-3 earlier Sunday.
Mikhail Maltsev, Marian Studenic and Nico Hischier scored for the Devils, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game. Mackenzie Blackwood had 21 saves as the Devils lost their sixth straight and fell to 1-8-2 in their past 11.
Zibanejad, who turned 28 and now has points in six straight games, got the winner on the Rangers sixth power play after being set up between the circles by Strome.
Strome was awarded a goal late after being hooked on a breakaway with the Devils net empty.
The game was similar to Saturday’s matchup at Madison Square, where the Rangers built a 4-0 lead, saw the Devils get within a goal and then score two empty-net goals to put the game away.
The Rangers opened a 3-0 lead in the second period, getting a power-play goal by Kreider, Kravtsov’s first NHL goal and another by Lafreniere.
The young Devils got a goal by Maltsev late in the second and tallies by Studenic
— his first in the NHL — and Hischier in the opening 5:30 of the third to tie the game.
Igor Shesterkin made two saves late in the first period before Georgiev returned for the final 40 minutes.
BRUINS 6, CAPITALS 3
BOSTON — David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each scored two goals and the Bruins held off the Capitals in an at times heated matchup between the East rivals.
Marchand also had two assists for the Bruins, who won their fourth straight.
Tuukka Rask stopped 30 of 33 shots in earning his 10th win this season and just his second victory since February.
Krejci said he thinks the team has settled into a groove since adding three players at the trade deadline. One of those acquisitions, Taylor Hall, assisted on Krejci’s go-ahead goal in the second period.
“This is the team. We’re just going out there trusting the system, playing games,” he said. “We just go out there and we play.”
Washington has lost two of its past three. T.J. Oshie had two goals and Anthony Mantha added another for the first-place Capitals. Mantha has scored a goal in five consecutive games, including all four since being acquired in a deal with Detroit at the trade deadline earlier this month. Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves.
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin was held scoreless and remains one goal back of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL’s career goals list.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said the Bruins’ top two lines were huge.
“The big boys came to play today,“Cassidy said. “We’re a dangerous team when that happens.”
Capitals defenseman Zdeno Chara missed his first game of the season after blocking a couple of shots off his right ankle in Saturday’s win over Philadelphia. Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said Chara is day to day.
Boston holds a 4-3 edge in the season series. The teams meet a final time in Washington on May 11 in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Krejci put the Bruins in front 4-3 at 16:02 of the second period, taking a pass from Craig Smith, stopping as Dmitry Orlov fell and slid by, and firing the shot into the top left corner of the net.
The lead grew less than two minutes later when Bergeron added his 18th goal of the season, on assists from David Pastrnak and Marchand to fire in a shot off a 3-on-2 break.