The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Hayes, Vesey help Rangers beat Preds
The New York Rangers can finally breathe a sigh of relief after holding off the Nashville Predators for just their second win of the season.
Kevin Hayes and Jimmy Vesey each had a goal and an assist to help the Rangers snap a five-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Predators on Saturday afternoon in New York.
Chris Kreider added a power-play goal and David Desharnais extended his point streak to four games as the Rangers, 0-3-2 in their previous five, have now earned points in three straight games.
“You can do so many good things to try and get confidence, to try and get a good feeling in here but in the end, it comes down to winning games,” said Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 23 saves. “We have had a couple of games now where we have been close, it was just a matter of time. Finally, we get the two points here, take a deep breath and then we go after another two points Monday.”
Mattias Ekholm and Fillip Forsberg each scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 11 saves for the Predators.
“We are in the collecting points business,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said as the Predators concluded a two-game Eastern Conference trip. “Today we collected zero.”
The Rangers, who have struggled in first periods this season by allowing 13 goals in nine games, earned a two-goal advantage at the end of the first 20 minutes. The Rangers had three two-goal leads — 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 — on Saturday, after having just one multigoal advantage previously this season when they beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 at home on Oct. 8th.
Jesper Fast got his first of the season just 5:12 into the game as New York scored the first goal for only the fourth time in nine games.
Predators defenseman Alexei Emelin had trouble controlling a bouncing puck and Hayes was able to race up ice for a breakaway opportunity. Fast trailed the play and cashed in on the rebound.
After killing off three penalties of their own in the first 20 minutes, the Rangers' power-play unit doubled their lead at 19:34. J.T. Miller was able to slip out of the corner with control of the puck and fed a wide-open Chris Kreider in front.
Lundqvist picked up career victory No. 407 and is now tied with Glenn Hall for ninth place on the NHL's all-time wins list.
Islanders 5, Sharks 3
Anders Lee had two goals and an assist to lead the New York Islanders to a victory over San Jose.
John Tavares had a goal and two assists, Josh Bailey added a goal and an assist, and Andrew Ladd also scored to help the Islanders win for the third time in four games. Thomas Greiss stopped 28 shots.
Logan Couture scored all three goals for the Sharks, completing the hat trick with 1:52 remaining to pull them within one. Aaron Dell finished with 18 saves.
Ladd's goal at 3:12 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie. Rookie Mathew Barzal created the scoring chance by taking the puck around the net and then setting up Ladd in the high slot for his second of the season.
Lee's second of the game and fifth of the season gave the Islanders a two-goal cushion with 8:13 remaining as he converted an odd-man rush.
Tavares sealed the win with an empty-netter with 55.4 seconds remaining and helped improve to 22-4-4 in their two-plus seasons at Barclays Center. Tavares points were his first since he had two goals and an assist Oct. 7 against Buffalo, ending a five-game drought.
Sabres 5, Bruins 4
Ryan O’Reilly scored 2:59 into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins, capping a comeback from a pair of three-goal deficits.
Former Boston University star and Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel had a goal for the Sabres. Jason Pominville and Benoit Pouliot and Evander Kane also scored for Buffalo, which has just one regulation win this season. Robin Lehner stopped 27 shots.
Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each scored two goals for the Bruins, and Anton Khudobin made 37 saves.
The Bruins held leads of 3-0 and 4-1, but Buffalo tied it when Kane scored out of a scramble in front with 2:08 to play.
O’Reilly then won it when he spun from the side of the net and slipped a backhander over Khudobin. The play was reviewed, but the goal was upheld because a Boston player pushed Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen into the goaltender a few seconds before the shot.
With the Bruins leading 2-0, Marchand fired wrist shot that caromed into the net off the right post for his second goal of the game 37 seconds into the second period.
It could have been worse for the Sabres, but Lehner dropped to make a pad stop on Sean Kuraly’s clean breakaway seconds later.
Buffalo sliced it to 3-1 when Pominville snapped a wrister by Khudobin’s glove, but Pastrnak scored when his shot from the slot hit Buffalo defenseman Matt Tennyson’s skate and bounced into the net at 11:42.
Marchand had a chance for the hat trick in the period, but Lehner made a sprawling save.