Vladislav Namestnikov has 2 goals and an assist for New York.
By Heather Engel / NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Vladislav Namestnikov had two goals and an assist, and the New York Rangers scored twice in eight seconds in the third period to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-2 at KeyBank Center on Friday.
Boo Nieves, Jesper Fast, Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for the Rangers (25-24-8), who trail the Pittsburgh Penguins by nine points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves.
Jeff Skinner scored twice for the Sabres (28-22-7), who are four points behind Pittsburgh and haven’t won consecutive games since Dec. 11 and 13. Linus Ullmark made 23 saves.
With a delayed penalty call coming to the Sabres, Nieves put the Rangers ahead 1-0 at 4:09 of the first period when he beat Kyle Okposo and Johan Larsson to a loose puck in the high slot.
Fast tipped in Namestnikov’s shot from the blue line to make it 2-0 at 14:03.
Uncovered at the inner hashmarks of the left circle, Skinner narrowed it to 2-1 with his 35th of the season 53 seconds into the second period. But the Rangers quickly regained their two-goal lead, with Vesey pushing the puck in short side at 1:51 to make it 3-1.
Skinner pulled the Sabres within one again at 16:56 on the power play with a shot from the high slot that brought it to 3-2.
Buchnevich put the Rangers up 4-2 when he redirected Kevin Hayes’ shot at the left side of the net at 15:59 of the third period.
Namestnikov extended the lead to 5-2 eight seconds later, at 16:07, and scored into an empty net at 19:02 for the 6-2 final.