Achi news desk-
Mika Zivanjad had two goals and an assist, Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists, and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Sunday night.
Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafrene also scored, and Igor Shesterkin had 26 saves to help the Rangers earn their 53rd win to tie a franchise record set in 2014-15.
New York has won eight of its last nine games and 13 of its last 16 contests at home.
The Rangers have 110 points to lead Boston for the most three-pointers in the NHL.
New York is also five points ahead of Carolina in first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The three teams have four games left.
“Mika and Kreids played with really good energy tonight,” said Rangers coach Peter LeViolet, who paired the versatile Jimmy Vesey on the right wing with Kreider and Zibanjad. “Their line was effective.”
Cole Caulfield and Alex Newhoek had goals for Montreal, which has lost three in a row.
Mike Matheson had two assists and Kaiden Primeau finished with 41 saves.
The Canadiens will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
“It’s a hard building to get into,” Primeau said. “They are a good team. At the end of the day, you want to compete against top teams.”
Kreider tipped in Panarin’s shot 3:59 into the third to snap a 1-1 tie.
It was Kreider’s 38th goal of the season and his 109th career power play goal, moving him past Rod Gilbert for second in franchise history.
Kreider has goals in five of his last six games.
“I try to shoot the puck to him every time,” Panarin said. “He has a good position, I recommend it.”
Panarin then scored his team-leading 46 at 6:09 to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.
The 32-year-old Russian forward has 115 points, trailing only Jaromir Jagr’s 123 in 2005-06, the most in franchise history.
He has points in 63 of New York’s 78 games this season.
“Elite players do it consistently,” Lavellet said of Panarin’s production. “His stats over the last seven or eight years are amazing. This year is his best. He’s been doing a really good job for a long time.”
Newhawk made it 3-2 with 7:47 to go with its 13th.
Zivanjad scored his second of the night and 26th of the season with 3:04 left before Lepernier completed the scoring with an empty netter with 1:15 left for his career-high 27th.
Fernier has 24 points, including 12 goals, in his last 24 games.
The Rangers are 20-1-1 when he scores a goal this season.
Caufield opened the scoring with 30 seconds left in the first period, taking the puck out of Starkin behind the net.
The goal was his 24th and came in Caufield’s 200th NHL game.
Zivanjad equalized with a power play goal with 7:29 left in the second. Panarin had an assist in the game to extend his point streak to nine games.
Fox also had an assist to give him points in 12 of his last 14 games.
Canada coach Martin St. Louis said he hopes to produce positive results in his club’s remaining four games.
Montreal is last in the Atlantic Division with 70 points, a year after it also finished last with 68.
“We do a good job of being process-driven,” said St. Louis, who became the Canadiens’ coach at the end of the 2021-22 campaign. “We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting closer.”
Before the game, New York’s Vincent Trocheck accepted the annual fan-voted Steven McDonald Effort Award given to the Rangers player who goes “above and beyond the call of duty.”
The award, first given to Jan Erickson in 1988, honors the New York police officer who was shot in Central Park in 1986 and left paralyzed from the neck down.
McDonald publicly forgave the boy who shot him and became a symbol of kindness, generosity and determination.
He died at the age of 59 in January 2017.
“Obviously it’s a very big honor,” Trotcheck said. “I’ve only been here for two years. For me to receive it means a lot.”
