Rangers beat Bruins in Panarin’s 1st game back
BOSTON — Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 14th goal, Artemi Panarin had an assist in his first game back since leaving the team, and the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 4-0 Saturday to halt a three-game losing streak.
Panarin left Feb. 22 after a Russian tabloid printed allegations from a former coach that he attacked a woman in Latvia almost a decade ago, which he denies. His return clearly provided a lift for New York.
“You put him in the lineup and then it looks like we have more swagger,” Rangers coach David Quinn said.
The Rangers went 4-5 while he was gone.
Keith Kinkaid stopped 18 shots for his first shutout since 2018. Ryan Strome, Pavel Buchnevich and K’Andre Miller each had a goal for New York, which lost 4-0 in Boston on Thursday. Mika Zibanejad added two assists and Kreider had one.
“It was definitely a huge boost getting him back,” Zibanejad said about Panarin. “Not only for the game but for the locker room.”
Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves for the Bruins, who have dropped eight of their last 12 games.
“You see a game like that and it’s: ‘Are we tired or are we out of shape?’” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “At the end of it, I think there’s a number of things. But it’s unacceptable, the effort has to be there everyday. That’s the most disappointing thing about today was the effort.”
The Rangers called the story about Panarin fabricated and designed to intimidate him for his political views against Russian President Vladimir Putin. His former coach in the Kontinental Hockey League, Andrei Nazarov, said he was motivated to speak about the alleged incident because he disagreed with Panarin’s criticism of the Russian government.
ISLANDERS 3, DEVILS 2
NEWARK, N.J. — Kieffer Bellows scored his first two goals of the season early in the third period and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the New Jersey Devils for their eighth straight victory.
Oliver Walhstrom also scored and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves to help the East-leading Islanders extend their points streak to 11 games (10-0-1).
The winning streak is the longest for the Islanders since they won 10 in a row last season. The team record is 15 in early 1982.
Pavel Zacha and Janne Kuokkanen scored for the Devils, who have lost 10 straight at home. Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves for New Jersey.