Artemi Panarin of the Rangers celebrates after scoring a goal Saturday during a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils in New York. Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP
NEW YORK — Pavel Buchnevich celebrated his birthday with his first career hat trick and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Saturday for their third win over their Hudson River rivals in five days.
Artemi Panarin added a goal and three assists and Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist in a three-goal first-period outburst as the Rangers improved to 12-4-3 in their last 19 games.
The question after the quick start was whether rookie Igor Shesterkin would get his third consecutive shutout. The Russian’s shutout streak was stopped at 152 minutes, 37 seconds when Michael McLeod scored on a second-period rebound.
The victory extended the Rangers’ point streak to a season-high five games (4-0-1) and pulled them within four points of Boston in the race for the last playoff berth in the East. The Rangers have 12 games left in the regular season, two fewer than the Bruins.
CAPITALS 6, FLYERS 3: Alex Ovechkin scored twice to move within one goal of Marcel Dionne for fifth place on the NHL’s career goal-scoring list as Washington won at Philadelphia.
Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha each added a goal while John Carlson recorded four assists for Washington, which increased its lead in the East Division to four points over the New York Islanders.
Ovechkin now has 730 goals in his 16-year career. Dionne finished with 731 during 18 seasons with the Red Wings, Kings and Rangers from 1971-89.
PENGUINS 3, SABRES 2: Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots and Pittsburgh jumped into second place in the East Division win a win at Buffalo.
SENATORS 4, CANADIENS 0: Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist, and Ottawa won at Montreal.
COYOTES 3, BLUES 2: Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots in his return to the lineup, and Phoenix won at home to end a five-game losing streak.
The Coyotes moved a point ahead of the Blues for the West Division’s final playoff spot.
HURRICANES 3, PREDATORS 1: Jani Hakanpaa scored his first goal with Carolina to break a tie in the third period and lift the Hurricanes past visiting Nashville.
BLACKHAWKS 4, RED WINGS 0: Malcolm Subban made 29 saves for his second shutout of the season, helping the Chicago win at Detroit.
PANTHERS 5, LIGHTNING 3: Brandon Montour, Patric Hornqvist and Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the first period for visiting Florida, which jumped one point ahead of Tampa Bay for second place in the Central Division.
OILERS 3, JETS 0: Mike Smith stopped 26 shots in his third shutout of the season, and Edmonton won at Winnipeg.
STARS 5, BLUE JACKETS 1: Joe Pavelski scored his team-high 18th goal of the season as one of five Dallas players with a goal and an assist, and the Stars scored four times in 6 minutes in the second period to beat visiting Columbus.
WILD 5, SHARKS 2: Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota improved to 17-4-0 at home.
NOTES
SABRES: Buffalo forward Kyle Okposo will miss the remainder of the season after having surgery to repair a broken bone in his left cheek, the team announced.
Okposo was hurt after being struck by teammate Matt Irwin’s shot in the first period of a 5-2 win at Washington on Thursday.
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