The New York Rangers post a 5-1 victory over Buffalo.
By Dan Rosen / NHL.com Senior Writer
NEW YORK — Mika Zibanejad scored for the fifth consecutive game and rookie Neal Pionk scored his first NHL goal in the New York Rangers 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Jimmy Vesey had two goals and an assist. Zibanejad, Pionk and Chris Kreider each had a goal and an assist. Kevin Hayes had two assists to give him 100 in his NHL career.
Rookie goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 43 saves for his third win in five starts since March 12.
The Rangers (33-34-8), who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), are 12 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining.
The Sabres (23-40-12), who have been eliminated from playoff contention, lost their fourth in a row in regulation. Buffalo has two goals in the past four games.
Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, who started for the first time in five games, allowed four goals on 12 shots before being relieved by Linus Ullmark with 11:15 remaining in the second period. Ullmark made 10 saves.
Kreider, Vesey, Pionk and Zibanejad scored on four straight shots in a span of 12:16 bridging the first and second periods.
Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 16:29 of the first period off a cross-crease pass from Zibanejad. Vesey made it 2-0 93 seconds later when he knocked down Mats Zuccarello’s shot and knocked the puck past Lehner.
Pionk scored at 3:59 of the second off a one-timer from the left circle for a 3-0 lead, and Kreider set up Zibanejad for a power-play goal at 8:45 to make it 4-0. It was his seventh goal in his five-game streak.
Vesey scored a power-play goal at 14:47 to make it 5-0.
Sam Reinhart pulled the Sabres within 5-1 on the power play at 15:26 of the third period. It was only the second goal scored by Buffalo during the 5-game losing streak.
Up next
The Sabres continue their road trip Monday night north of the border as they take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto.