NEW YORK — Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist, Henrik Lundqvist moved into a tie for sixth place on the NHL’s career wins list and the New York Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 Thursday night.
Mats Zuccarello, Filip Chytil and Mika Zibanejad also scored to help New York win for the third time in four games after a five-game skid. Lundqvist stopped 24 shots to tie Terry Sawchuk with 445 wins.
Brandon Saad, Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kahun scored for Chicago, which has lost five straight (0-3-2) and seven of eight. Collin Delia, making his eighth start of the season, finished with 29 saves.
DeBrincat pulled the Blackhawks to 3-2 on a one-timer off a pass from Eric Gustafsson at 1:40 of the third period. It was Chicago’s second power-play goal of the night and ninth during a seven-game streak with at least one.
Delia, 0-2-3 in his last five starts, made a stellar save on Jimmy Vesey in front about six minutes later, and corralled an attempt by Zuccarello from the left circle with 7:40 left to keep Chicago within one.
New York went on its first power play of the game less than 30 seconds later and managed six shots on goal during the advantage, but Delia stopped them all.
Chicago pulled Delia for an extra skater with about 1:45 left, but couldn’t tie it.
Zibanejad scored an empty-netter with 18 seconds remaining to give the Rangers a two-goal lead. Kahun beat Lundqvist from between the circles with 1.5 seconds left for the final margin.
With the Rangers leading 2-1 after one period, Zibanejad appeared to push the lead to two a little more than seven minutes into the second, but his goal was overturned after a coach’s challenge for offside.
Kreider put New York up 3-1 with 6:51 left in the middle period. Zuccarello intercepted the puck in the defensive zone, skated up the right side and sent a centring pass toward Brady Skjei that Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith deflected. However, Kreider put it in from the left side for his 22nd.
Saad got the Blackhawks on the scoreboard first with a power-play goal 5:41 into the game. Brent Seabrook’s shot from the right point was deflected off the left post by former Ranger Artem Anisimov, and the puck came out to Saad, who put it in from the right side for his 14th.
Chytil tied it with 6:40 left in the first as he picked up a loose puck in the defensive zone, skated up the right side, sped around fellow 19-year-old Henri Jokiharju, skated in on Delia and fired the puck into the top right corner for his eighth.
The Rangers went ahead a little more than four minutes later. Marc Staal fired a shot from centre point that Kreider deflected in front, but the puck went off the left post and Zuccarello knocked it in before Delia could turn around and sweep it away with 2:22 left in the period. It was Zuccarello’s eighth goal of the season, and fourth in the last four games.
NOTES: Patrick Kane had an assist on DeBrincat’s goal, extending his point streak to seven games (10 assists, 15 points). It was his 554th career assist, tying Doug Wilson for third place in franchise history. Stan Mikita leads with 926 and Denis Savard is second with 719. … Anisimov, who played for the Rangers from 2008-12, has five assists and seven points in his last four games against his former team. … Rangers forward Kevin Hayes missed his eighth straight game due to an upper-body injury. … Zuccarello, who had a career-high three assists in New York’s 6-2 win against Carolina on Tuesday night, extended his point streak to four games.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Host the Washington Capitals on Sunday to open a two-game homestand before the All-Star Game.
Rangers: At the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in their final game before the All-Star break.
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Vin A. Cherwoo, The Associated Press