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Kreider took a pass from J.T. Miller and blew past Winnipeg
defenseman Dustin Byfuglien before jamming a backhander past Ondrej
Pavelec while crashing into the net as the Rangers closed within two
points of Anaheim in the race for the Presidents' Trophy with two
games in hand. Derick Brassard added a goal and an assist and Mats
Zuccarello also scored to give Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves) his first
victory since Feb. 2.
Jim Slater and former Ranger Lee Stempniak scored for the Jets, who
gave up a pair of one-goal leads in their second straight defeat and
remained two points ahead of Los Angeles for the second wild card in
the Western Conference. Pavelec turned aside 21 shots but was
outdueled by Lundqvist, who made his second start since being
sidelined with a vascular issue.
A hustle play by Chris Thorburn led to the opening goal, as Slater
banked in a rebound from just below the end line 3:16 into the
contest. Zuccarello tied it nearly 6 1/2 minutes later, racing to
the front of the net to bury the rebound of Rick Nash's shot for his
15th goal.
Winnipeg reclaimed the lead on a goal by Stempniak, who ripped a
shot from just inside the top of the left faceoff circle that sailed
past Lundqvist high to the glove side 84 seconds into the middle
period. Brassard responded with a blast from the point that beat a
screened Pavelec midway through the session.
[to top of second column] |
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brassard reached 40 assists for the first time, and
his 17th goal moved him within one of his career high set last
season. ... Slater has scored twice in the last three contests
following a 26-game drought. ... Rangers RW Martin St. Louis,
sidelined since March 15 with an MCL sprain, said he expects to
return to the lineup for Thursday's game at Minnesota.
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