NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE ROUNDUP
Rangers 5, Coyotes 2
Pavel Buchnevich scored twice and added an assist, rookie Boo Nieves had three assists and New York beat winless Arizona on Thursday night. Michael Grabner had two goals, Chris Kreider also scored and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 27 shots to help the Rangers get just their third victory of the season in the finale of a season-high six-game homestand. New York shook up its line combinations and played with a traditional lineup consisting of 12 forwards and six defensemen for the first time in a week. It helped the Rangers beat Arizona for the eighth straight time, dating back to March 24, 2014. Anthony Duclair and Clayton Keller scored, and Adin Hill made 24 saves as the Coyotes fell to 0-9-1. The loss spoiled the return of former Rangers star Derek Stepan to Madison Square Garden for the first time since he was traded to Arizona along with goalie Antti Raanta in the offseason. Arizona trailed 2-0 after one period before Duclair got a loose puck in front of the net and beat Pavelec for his third of the season at 5:13 of the second. The Rangers regained their two-goal lead just 46 seconds later as Nieves, called up from Hartford of the AHL on Tuesday, set up Grabner for his second assist of the game. After Hill turned the puck over, Buchnevich took advantage by scoring into the open net for his first career multi-goal game and putting the Rangers up 4-1. Nieves got his third assist on the play. Keller extended his point streak to four-games with a power-play goal at 3:52 of the third to pull the Coyotes within two again. Keller leads all NHL rookies with seven goals this season. Grabner sealed the win with an empty-netter in the final minute. Kreider opened the scoring at 8:01 of the first after he buried a beautiful drop pass from Mats Zuccarello. With 4:03 remaining in the opening period, Buchnevich fired a long-distance wrist shot off the post and in to give New York a two-goal advantage. Nieves got his earned his first career NHL point on the play. Stepan played the first seven seasons of his career in New York and skated in 515 contests with the Rangers. Raanta did not play due to a lower-body injury. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault got his 617th career victory, tying Jacques Lemaire for 13th place on NHL's all-time wins list.
Bruins 2, Sharks 1
Danton Heinen scored both goals and Anton Khudobin made 36 saves to lift Boston to a win over San Jose. Joe Thornton scored for San Jose, which went 1 for 6 on the power play. The Sharks had one in the final two minutes after Brandon Carlo went off for slashing and got three shots while creating havoc in front of Khudobin but couldn't capitalize. Heinen scored his second of the game and broke a second-period tie when he tucked a shot inside the left post after Marc -Edouard Vlasic misplayed the puck in the corner at 13:27. Thornton tied the score at 1 when he scored on the power play and slipped the puck past a screened Khudobin to tie Jari Kurri for 20th all-time on the NHL scoring list with 1,398 points. Khudobin made his third consecutive start for Tuukka Rask, who his recovering from a concussion and is expected to return Saturday. Heinen scored short-handed and notched his first career goal when he knocked in the rebound of David Backes' shot and beat Martin Jones at 9:41 of the first period. Jones made 31 saves and had won four straight and only allowed five goals in the last four games.
Wild 6, Islanders 4
Eric Staal had a goal and assist, Luke Kunin and Zack Mitchell each scored their first NHL goals, and Minnesota beat New York. Marcus Foligno, Jason Zucker and Jonas Brodin also scored for Minnesota. Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 shots to win for the second time in six starts this season for the Wild. Anthony Beauvillier, Nick Leddy, Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored for New York, which had won three in a row. Thomas Greiss finished with 27 saves. Staal scored short-handed to cap a three-goal first-period burst for Minnesota in 7:26. He later assisted on Kunin's tally as the rookie became the first player in Wild history to score short-handed for his first NHL goal, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. New York entered the game with the league's worst power play at 7.1 percent this season and had allowed three short-handed goals in its first nine games. The Islanders were 0 for 5 on the power play against the Wild, in addition to allowing two more short-handed goals. Minnesota overwhelmed New York from the outset. The Wild were were outshooting the Islanders 10-0 at the start of the game and 13-1 after Staal earned a breakaway for a short-handed marker. Kunin's tally came in the second as Staal broke free on a 2-on-1. The veteran center sent a crossice pass to Kunin, who snapped a quick shot past Greiss.
Kings 4, Canadiens 0
Jonathan Quick stopped 40 shots for his 46th career shutout, Adrian Kempe and Tyler Toffoli scored 11 seconds apart in the first period and Los Angeles beat Montreal. Anze Kopitar and Kurtis MacDermid also scored for the Western Conference-leading Kings (8-1-1), who beat the Canadiens 5-2 last week in Los Angeles. The Canadiens (2-7-1) thought their goal-scoring woes were behind them when they beat Florida 5-1 on Tuesday night, but the bad luck and worse shooting were back in force as they outshot Los Angeles 40-27. It was Quick's second shutout this season and came in his 500th career game.. Quick, the 72nd overall draft pick in 2005 who led the Kings to Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014, improved his career record to 266-168-54 The Canadiens had a 16-8 edge in first period shots and missed a handful of chances, but it was Los Angeles that struck first. Carey Price cleared the puck to the left boards where it got past Paul Byron. Derek Forbort shot it toward the net where Kempe tipped it past Price from the left circle at 18:59. It was Kempe's sixth goal in his last five games. Play had just resumed when a Victor Mete turnover in the Montreal zone allowed Toffoli to skate in and blast in his third goal at 19:10. Montreal was all over the Kings in the second period and again, it was Los Angeles that scored as Kopitar broke in with each team down a man and snapped a wrist shot to the top corner at 14:35.