Wild defeat Rangers, extend win streak to 10

NEW YORK -- The Minnesota Wild won their 10th consecutive game, the longest streak in their history, 7-4 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Marco Scandella, Jason Zucker, Mathew Dumba and Charlie Coyle scored for the Wild (21-8-4), who have outscored the opposition 37-16 during the streak. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves.
"I think more important than the winning streak is the way we're playing right now," Koivu said. "For sure, it's great to have the record, but as players we're looking more at the way we play, and being able to play in tough buildings and beat some good hockey teams is a great feeling."

WATCH: All Wild vs. Rangers highlights
Coyle had three assists, and Koivu, Zucker and Eric Staal each had two.
Chris Kreider scored twice, and Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan each had a goal for the Rangers (23-12-1), who have lost two straight, allowing seven goals in each game.
"It stings right now the way that our last two games have gone," McDonagh said. "We want to take pride in our job and focus on what we can do individually to be better coming back here after this (Christmas) break. We definitely need to respond here."
New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 13 shots before being pulled 4:55 into the second period. Antti Raanta made five saves.
"They just took advantage of some breakdowns," Lundqvist said. "Personally, I have to play more on my toes."

The Wild scored five goals in the second period to take a 6-3 lead.
"As much as it might have looked like there was a pass on the [7-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday], there is definitely not a pass on this one," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We need quite a few players to pick up their level. We didn't have enough guys playing well."
Koivu and Niederreiter scored goals 18 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period to give the Wild a 3-1 lead.
McDonagh pulled New York within 3-2 on a slap shot from the left point at 2:17 before Scandella gave Minnesota a 4-2 lead at 4:55 to end Lundqvist's night.
Zucker then gave the Wild a 5-2 lead when he knocked in a loose puck from the slot at 12:14. Dumba scored a power-play goal with 2:36 remaining to make it 6-2.
Stepan gave the Rangers some life when he scored from the left circle off a nice move to make it 6-3 with one minute remaining in the period.
Kreider scored his second of the game with three minutes remaining to make it 6-4, but Coyle's empty-net goal with 1:09 left put the Wild back up by three goals, 7-4.
"No one is thinking about the record," Coyle said. "We just play with hopes of coming ready to play, and everyone's doing their part right now."
Kreider scored 3:54 into the first to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Granlund scored at 9:53 to tie it 1-1.

Goal of the game

Scandella scored his first of the season off a slap shot from the left faceoff circle.

Save of the game

Kuemper made a left-pad save against J.T. Miller with 4:15 left in the second period and the Wild leading 5-2.

#

Highlight of the game

Koivu and Niederreiter scored in a span of 18 seconds early in the second to give the Wild a 3-1 lead.

Unsung performance of the game

Koivu, who went 14-for-23 (61 percent) on faceoffs, won a draw in the left circle to help set up Granlund's game-tying goal.

They said it

"Once we started winning, they started to believe in the things we were trying to accomplish, and the times we didn't do well, [goalie Devan Dubnyk] was there to bail us out. When you gain confidence, and if you believe you can win all the time, then it usually happens. It'll never happen if you don't believe you can win." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"There is no excuse. At the end the day, we had [Derek Stepan's] line bringing out their 'A' game. The rest just weren't good enough, from goaltender on out. When you play against a team that has won nine games in a row, you have to bring your best, and we just had one line going." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault

Need to know

The Wild have an 11-game point streak (10-0-1). … The line of Koivu centering Zucker and Granlund combined for three goals and eight points, and the line of Staal centering Coyle and Niederreiter had two goals and eight points. ... Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello tied an NHL career high with three assists.

What's next

Wild: At the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV)