Rangers score 9 goals, cruise past Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Igor Shesterkin made 44 saves for the New York Rangers, who scored four goals in the first and third period of a 9-2 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

With the win, the Rangers moved six points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. New York has three games remaining, and Montreal has four.

Brett Berard scored twice for his first multigoal NHL game, Artemi Panarin had two goals and an assist, and Juuso Parssinen had a goal and two assists for the Rangers (37-35-7), who had lost three in a row, including 8-5 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. Alexis Lafreniere, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Fox had three assists.

“The start was really good. I thought we were just good defensively and on attack,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought we have been starting games a lot better, but it’s nice when you can put up some goals and get rewarded like that. Then, I think, just finishing strong, too, I thought the third period was good.”

Maxim Tsyplakov and Hudson Fasching scored for the Islanders (34-33-11), who have allowed 16 goals in their past two games (lost 7-6 in overtime at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday).

Marcus Hogberg allowed eight goals on 30 shots. Tristan Lennox, who was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Thursday morning, made his NHL debut in relief in the third. He allowed one goal on two shots before Hogberg reentered the game.

“Obviously, we didn't manage the puck very well, and turnovers were the difference in that game,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “The Rangers are a team with a lot of skill, especially on the top two lines, and it's a good rush team. So, if you make bad decisions exiting the zone or at the blue line, they're going to make you pay, and that’s exactly what happened. They didn't have that many chances, but the chances they had were caused by mistakes that we cannot make if we want to win games like this.”

Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 3:17 of the first period. J.T. Miller faked a slap shot in the high slot and passed to Zibanejad, who scored glove side from the right circle with Hogberg out of position.

Will Cuylle made it 2-0 at 12:49. Miller missed on a deflection attempt of Zibanejad's shot from the right circle, and Hogberg kicked the puck out with his right pad right to Cuylle, who buried the rebound in front.

Trocheck extended the lead to 3-0 on a power play at 13:51. After receiving a pass from Panarin along the goal line, Trocheck pivoted to the top of the crease and lifted a forehand over Hogberg's glove.

“I thought our response was good. We came out pretty hot. Getting off to a hot start in their building is always key here,” Trocheck said. “... I think our transition game was good tonight. We played a little quicker, we created turnovers in the neutral zone, got it up and quick, and attacked off that. I think we got a lot of our offense off that."

Panarin made it 4-0 at 19:15 of the first, scoring into an open net with a one-timer off a pass from Trocheck on a 2-on-1.

Parssinen pushed it to 5-0 on a wraparound at 8:19 of the second period. It was his first goal in nine games with the Rangers after being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on March 1.

Tsyplakov made it 5-1 at 19:06, roofing a shot short side over Shesterkin's glove from the right circle on a power play.

Berard made it 6-1 at 7:54 of the third period, finishing a backhand in front after he received a backhand centering pass from Matt Rempe.

Fasching cut it to 6-2 at 10:52 with a slap shot from the right circle after Casey Cizikas' initial shot caromed off the end boards.

Berard scored his second of the period at 12:37, beating Lennox five-hole on a 2-on-1 to make it 7-2.

Hogberg, who was pulled after Berard's first goal, then reentered the game.

“Every time you get to score in this league, it’s obviously fun,” Berard said. “It was a great team effort from everybody. Ever since the first shift we were clicking there. Shesterkin made a couple of huge saves there to keep us in it early. We played a good team game tonight, and it was fun to watch everyone.”

Lafreniere made it 8-2 at 15:54, and Panarin banked a shot in off Hogberg from behind the net at 18:51 for the 9-2 final.

“It seemed that everything they did tonight went in,” Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. “It's not even a fault of our goaltending or anything like that, it’s more about us giving them the great opportunities that we gave them. ... That's on us tonight. It's definitely not good enough and unacceptable on our part.”

NOTES: Fox became the ninth defenseman in NHL history to have four consecutive seasons with at least 50 assists. ... Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games with an illness. He had an assist and was plus-3 in 20:39 of ice time. ... Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin did not dress because of a lower-body injury.