NY Rangers 5, Florida 2
When: 6:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees:
Ian Walsh, Marc Joannette
Linesmen:
Pierre Racicot, Andy McElman
Attendance:
15090
By SportsDirect Inc.
Rangers 5, Panthers 2: Captain Ryan McDonagh, Chris Kreider and Martin St. Louis each collected a goal and an assist as visiting New York skated to its ninth win in 10 games.
Derick Brassard and Dominic Moore also tallied while Derek Stepan notched three assists for the Rangers, who have won eight of their last 10 meetings with Florida - including a 2-1 shootout victory on New Year's Eve in 2013. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 18 saves to improve to 19-9-1 in his career versus the Panthers.
Tomas Fleischmann scored late in the second period and Jimmy Hayes matched his career high with his 11th tally for Florida, which saw its eight-game home point streak (6-0-2) come to an end. Al Montoya turned aside 29 shots in falling to 1-3-0 lifetime against the team that selected him with the sixth overall pick of the 2004 draft.
Defenseman Kevin Klein's blast from point didn't make it through a maze of bodies, but Kreider alertly spotted the loose puck on the doorstep and beat Montoya over the right shoulder with 3:18 remaining in the first period to open the scoring. Brassard doubled the advantage 1:29 into the second, cleaning up a rebound after McDonagh's initial shot was denied by Montoya.
McDonagh gave New York a 3-0 lead in scintillating fashion 13 minutes later, knocking down a potential clearing attempt by elevating his right leg before blasting a shot from the point past Montoya during a power play. Fleischmann scored on a partial breakaway and Hayes chipped home a loose puck 7:39 into the third, but St. Louis restored the two-goal advantage 2:12 later as a rebound went in off his left skate.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Hayes also scored 11 goals in 53 games last season. ... New York rookie C Kevin Hayes blocked three shots while playing in a game against his brother for the first time in his career. ... Five of Kreider's six goals have been scored on the road.
Top Game Performances
| NY Rangers |
|
Florida |
|
Derek Stepan 3 |
Points |
Tomas Fleischmann 1 |
|
Chris Kreider 1 |
Goals |
Tomas Fleischmann 1 |
|
Derek Stepan 3 |
Assists |
Aleksander Barkov 1 |
|
Ryan McDonagh 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Jimmy Hayes 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Henrik Lundqvist .900 |
Save Percentage |
Al Montoya .853 |
|
Henrik Lundqvist 18 |
Saves |
Al Montoya 29 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| NY Rangers
|
34 |
5 |
1-2 |
2-3 |
8 |
24 |
| Florida
|
20 |
2 |
1-3 |
1-2 |
6 |
31 |
Upcoming Games
-
Florida will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Panthers have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .632 after a loss.
-
NY Rangers will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Rangers have a W/L % of .579 after a win and .562 after a loss.