Brett Howden scored the tiebreaking goal a little bit beyond the midway point of the third period Monday night as the host New York Rangers edged the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1.
Filip Chytil also scored for the Rangers, who have won two straight and six of seven (6-0-1). The goals by the 19-year-old Chytil and the 20-year-old Howden mark the first time two players 20 years old or younger have scored for New York since Oct. 16, 1996, when 19-year-old Christian Dube and 20-year-old Daniel Goneau each scored.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves and earned his 437th career win to tie Jacques Plante for seventh place on the NHL's all-time list.
Nikolay Goldobin scored for the Canucks, who had their six-game point streak snapped. Vancouver has lost two straight and dropped three of four (1-1-2) to begin a six-game road trip. Goalie Jacob Markstrom recorded 25 saves.
Following a scoreless first period, Goldobin put the Canucks up 3:16 into the second, when he and defenseman Ben Hutton raced up the ice with only Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk standing in between the pair of Vancouver players. Goldobin shuffled the puck, and Pionk sprawled out in hopes of breaking up a pass, but the forward instead fired a shot that sailed past Markstrom.
A pair of faceoff wins led to the Rangers' goals.
Mika Zibanejad won a faceoff with Bo Horvat to set up the tying goal. The puck bounced to Pionk, whose shot from just in front of the blue line was deflected by Markstrom. But Markstrom was caught leaning to his left as Chytil picked up the rebound and tucked it into the open right corner of the net for his second career goal with 7:18 left in the second.
Howden scored the game-winner seconds after Jesper Fast won a faceoff with Markus Granlund. Jimmy Vesey immediately took a shot, which was blocked by Canucks defenseman Christopher Tanev. But Howden was right there to corral the puck, which he fired past Markstrom from point-blank range with 8:41 left.
The Canucks pulled Markstrom with 2:19 left and spent the final 1:15 on a power play but could not score the tying goal. Lundqvist made three saves in a frantic final few seconds.
--Field Level Media
Vancouver | NY Rangers | |
Nikolay Goldobin 1 | Points | Filip Chytil 1 |
Nikolay Goldobin 1 | Goals | Filip Chytil 1 |
Ben Hutton 1 | Assists | Jesper Fast 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Filip Chytil 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jacob Markstrom .926 | Save Percentage | Henrik Lundqvist .962 |
Jacob Markstrom 25 | Saves | Henrik Lundqvist 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Vancouver | 26 | 1 | 0-4 | 5-6 | 17 | 23 |
NY Rangers | 27 | 2 | 1-6 | 4-4 | 13 | 30 |