NY Rangers cruise past Edmonton
NEW YORK: Ryan Strome collected a goal and two assists and Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves to lift the Rangers to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL on Monday.
Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow each scored and set up a goal and Chris Kreider also tallied to propel New York to their third win in a row.
Defenceman Adam Fox notched two assists for the Rangers, who blocked 22 shots on their way to avenging a 6-5 overtime loss in Edmonton on Nov 5.
Ryan McLeod scored in the second period for the Oilers, who have dropped four in a row (0-2-2) and 10 of their last 12 games (2-8-2).
Mikko Koskinen turned aside 24 shots en route to losing his sixth straight start (0-5-1).
Strome stripped the puck from Koskinen before feeding Lafreniere in the slot for an easy conversion to open the scoring at 5:25 of the first period.
Lafreniere’s goal was his eighth of the season and second in his last three games.
Georgiev preserved the slim advantage by denying Edmonton captain Connor McDavid on a rush early in the second period before making a pad save on Jesse Puljujarvi.
New York doubled the lead at 3:49 of the second period after a rush from Lafreniere resulted in Goodrow scoring from the slot.
Goodrow’s goal was his seventh of the season and third in his last three games.
McLeod, however, tapped home a nifty backhanded pass from Tyler Benson to halve Edmonton’s deficit with exactly six minutes remaining in the second period.
Kreider restored New York’s twogoal advantage by converting on the power play at 3:32 of the third period. Fox’s shot from the point was deflected home by Kreider for his team-leading 20th goal of the season.
Strome provided insurance with 5:49 remaining in the third period after his pass caromed off the skate of Edmonton defenceman Tyson Barrie and into the net.