Rangers ease past Sharks, move into 2nd Eastern Conference wild card

SAN JOSE -- Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox each scored twice, and the New York Rangers defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-1 at SAP Center on Saturday.

New York moved into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Rangers have played two more games.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for the Rangers (35-32-7), who lost 5-4 in overtime at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. J.T. Miller and Urho Vaakanainen each had two assists, and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves in his first start since March 9.

"Tonight, I thought there was a directness to our game," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "Moving the puck north, getting pucks to the net. We were pretty consistent with it the entire game."

Cam Lund scored his first NHL goal for the Sharks (20-43-9), who are 2-3-0 in their past five games. Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves.

"I didn't like our start," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "[We] weren't skating or physically engaged."

Panarin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 12:04 of the first period. After Vaakanainen's stick broke on the one-timer attempt, the puck went to the right for Braden Schneider, whose cross-ice pass found Panarin alone in the left circle. His wrist shot beat Georgiev blocker side.

Panarin made it 2-0 at 13:58. He walked the blue line and fired a wrist shot through traffic that beat Georgiev blocker side.

Fox made it 3-0 at 4:48 of the second period. Mika Zibanejad stole the puck and fed on the right wing to Brennan Othmann, who sent a cross-ice pass to Fox for the shot into the open net.

"[Panarin] and Fox each had good games," Othmann said. "Two offensive players, and we rely on those guys a lot. It is good for them to step up."

Jonny Brodzinski made it 4-0 at 3:08 of the third period. Brodzinski walked down the left wing, and his wrist shot from the top of the circle deflected in off of Georgiev's glove.

Fox scored his second to make it 5-0 at 5:47. Miller's shot from the side of the net went off Georgiev and sat on the goal line for Fox to tap in.

Trocheck's short-handed goal made it 6-0 at 16:53. Miller fed Trocheck on a 2-on-1 from the left wing.

Lund ended Quick's shutout bid at 17:46 with a power-play goal to make it 6-1. Lund took a drop pass from Collin Graf at the right circle and beat Quick over the glove with a wrist shot for his first goal in his second NHL game.

"It was a great feeling to get the first one. I'm really happy," Lund said. "[The puck is] gonna go to my parents. My dad has a whole collection in his basement, so I'm sure he'll put it down there."

NOTES: Panarin passed Walt Tkaczuk (153) for the sixth-most multipoint games in Rangers history. ... Sharks defenseman Jimmy Schuldt left the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Warsofsky did not have an update postgame. … Quick got his 403rd win, tying Grant Fuhr for 13th in NHL history. Glenn Hall is 12th with 407 wins.