Rangers 4, Coyotes 3: Lee Stempniak scored his second goal of the game with 2:14 remaining in the third period as host New York skated to its fourth straight victory and moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Chris Kreider tallied twice on the power play for his third career two-goal performance for the Rangers, who pulled even in points with the New York Islanders with two games in hand. Rookie Kevin Hayes notched a pair of assists and Cam Talbot finished with 37 saves to improve to 8-1-2 in place of the injured Henrik Lundqvist.

Sam Gagner scored a pair of man-advantage goals and Mark Arcobello added his fifth tally in seven contests for the Coyotes, who have mustered just 12 goals en route to dropping eight consecutive decisions. Defenseman Michael Stone notched two assists and Mike Smith turned aside 34 shots for Arizona, which hasn't won since posting a 3-2 shootout victory over Chicago on Feb. 9.

Smith lost his stick while making an initial save and Stempniak followed his own rebound by lifting a shot under the crossbar from the left doorstep to give New York a 4-3 lead. Martin St. Louis was whistled for hooking with 1:21 remaining, but the Rangers withstood the Coyotes' assault to secure the win..

After seeing his team go 0-for-12 on the power play in its previous five games, Gagner took matters into his own hands by scoring from the left faceoff circle with 2:06 left in the first period and the slot 86 seconds later to give Arizona a 3-1 lead. Stempniak deflected defenseman John Moore's shot past Smith 5:33 into the second before Kreider netted his second power-play goal - and team-leading seventh of the season - by backhanding home his own rebound with 12 seconds left in the session.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Arcobello continued his torrid stretch by wristing a shot from the inner edge of the right circle that beat Talbot 41 seconds into the contest. Former Boston College teammates Hayes and Kreider teamed up to forge a tie exactly 7 1/2 minutes later, as the former backhanded a pretty feed to the left doorstep for the latter to shovel home. ... Rangers LW Rick Nash registered just one shot in his return from a one-game absence due to neck spasms. ... Arizona C Henrik Samuelsson logged 9:33 of ice time while making his NHL debut in front of his father, Ulf, who is an assistant coach with New York.