Artemi Panarin of the Rangers celebrates his goal against the Washington Capitals during the third period Tuesday night at New York. Al Bello/Pool Photo via AP
NEW YORK — Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers scored five unanswered goals to beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 Tuesday night.
Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, Filip Chytil and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin made 30 saves, improving to 3-0-0 in his career against Washington.
T.J. Oshie and Nic Dowd scored for the Capitals, who lost for just the third time in their past 17 games. Two of those losses have come at the hands of the Rangers. Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves.
Oshie opened the scoring for the Capitals 2:23 into the game after Kevin Rooney was sent to the penalty box for holding in the offensive zone. It was his second straight game with a goal, having also scored against the Rangers in Sunday’s 5-4 victory.
Less than two minutes later, Garnet Hathaway crashed the Rangers’ net and amidst the scrum, Dowd jammed the puck into the net to make it 2-0. Six of Dowd’s seven goals this season have come on the road.
The Capitals dominated the early going, registering the game’s first nine shots on goal before the Rangers had one at 8:33 into the first period.
Chytil cut New York’s deficit to 2-1 with 4:24 left in the first. The 21-year-old stole the puck from Dmitry Orlov at the Rangers’ blue line and had a clean breakaway on net, beating Vanecek with a forehand.
The Rangers had opportunities to tie the game before their rally in the third period. With Zdeno Chara in the box for slashing in the final minute of the first period, a shot from Panarin hit the crossbar and deflected downward but away from goal. Midway through the second period, Colin Blackwell was alone with the puck in front of Washington’s net, but Vanecek made a point-blank save.
New York broke through early in the third period. Kakko tied the game, before Fox gave the Rangers their first lead less than three minutes later. Fox extended his point streak to eight games. Panarin scored New York’s fourth on a breakaway with 4:19 left, and Buchnevich added a late empty-net goal.
PANTHERS 4, RED WINGS 1: Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals to lift Florida to a win at home.
Brett Connolly scored his 100th NHL goal and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored a goal for the Panthers, who have won three straight. Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves.
Filip Zadina scored for the Red Wings. Calvin Pickard allowed three goals on eight shots before being replaced by Thomas Greiss, who stopped 24 shots. The Red Wings have lost six consecutive road games.
BLUE JACKETS 3, LIGHTNING 1: David Savard scored his first goal in two years and visiting Columbus beat Tampa Bay.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 37 shots, helping the Blue Jackets snap a four-game losing streak.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson also scored for Columbus.
Mathieu Joseph scored for Tampa Bay, which has lost three consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. The Lightning fell to 13-3 on home ice.
Curtis McElhinney finished with 18 saves for Tampa Bay.
CANADIENS 4, OILERS 0: Brendan Gallagher and Artturi Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist and host Montreal returned from lengthy break to beat Edmonton.
Montreal was playing for the first time since a 5-4 home shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks on March 20. Two days later, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia went on the NHL’s COVID list. As a result, the Canadiens had four games postponed – three with Edmonton and another against Ottawa.
BLACKHAWKS 2, HURRICANES 1: Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat scored in a 3:33 span early in the second period, Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves and host Chicago ended Carolina’s three-game winning streak.
Andrei Svechnikov scored for Carolina, which missed a chance to leapfrog Tampa Bay and Florida into first place in the Central Division.
PREDATORS 3, STARS 2: Eeli Tolvanen scored at 1:29 of overtime to give Nashville a win at home.
Calle Jarnkrok had a goal and an assist and Roman Josi also scored for Nashville, which extended its winning streak to a season-best six games.
Juuse Saros made 33 saves for Nashville. He has won his last four starts.
Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz scored, and Miro Heiskanen had two assists for Dallas, which has lost three straight.
NOTES
FLYERS: If relegating starting goalie Carter Hart to practice-only duty this week didn’t get the team’s attention, perhaps placing defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere on waivers will.
Philadelphia made the surprising move involving one of its top defensemen a day after the team nearly became the first to lose to the Buffalo Sabres in more than a month.
The slow-starting Flyers rallied from a three-goal, third-period deficit to pull out a 4-3 overtime win and extend the Sabres’ losing skid to 18 (0-15-3), matching the NHL’s longest in 17 years.
Except for noting Gostisbehere’s inconsistencies reflecting that of his entire lineup over the past month, Coach Alain Vigneault repeated a vague response in saying the decision to waive the defenseman provided Philadelphia more roster flexibility.
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