Matt Puempel powers Rangers past Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Puempel couldn't remember his previous hat trick. But what transpired Thursday may stick with him for a while.
Puempel scored three goals for the first time in the NHL on the power play, including the game-winner with 5:20 remaining, to help the New York Rangers to a 6-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
"I didn't have one in the American League, so it might have been in the [Ontario Hockey League], so it was nice to see some hats going on the ice," said Puempel, who accomplished the feat with his older brother, Mike, in the stands as part of a Rangers siblings road trip.

WATCH: All Rangers vs. Coyotes highlights
"[Mike] came to two of my games last year and I scored in both. They were the only two goals I scored all year, so he's good luck for me right now." Nick Holden scored his third goal in two games, and Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller also scored for New York (25-12-1), which scored four power-play goals in a game for the first time since Feb. 4, 2010 against the Washington Capitals. Antti Raanta made 19 saves for his 10th win.
"We kind of took what was given. We didn't force anything," Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. "We won a lot of draws, had good puck movement and put a lot of pucks down to the net." Christian Dvorak, Anthony Duclair and Tobias Rieder scored for the Coyotes (11-20-5), who rallied from 3-1 to tie it before Martin Hanzal took a holding penalty with 6:19 left and Puempel capitalized, deflecting McDonagh's shot past Mike Smith (26 saves) to put New York ahead to stay.
Miller scored an empty-net goal with 26.7 seconds left before Puempel completed his hat trick with 16.5 left.
Arizona went 0-5-0 on its homestand, the first time in Coyotes/Jets franchise history it failed to gain a point in a homestand of five or more games.
The Coyotes have lost six in a row.
"Having a five-game homestand and not even getting a point, it's just embarrassing. We need to put an end to it," Duclair said.
Arizona has allowed 11 power-play goals during its losing streak.

"We started the game taking penalties and we finished it taking penalties," said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, who addressed the team before it held a players meeting afterward. "The Hanzal penalty, once we battle back to make it 3-3 is just a poor, poor penalty. Poor judgment.
Asked if the mood of the meeting was somber, Tippett said, "It should be somber … it should be sour, not somber."
Puempel gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 2:24 into the game when his intended pass for Holden at the far post deflected off Alex Goligoski's stick and past Smith.
Holden made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 8:01 of the first when Miller skated behind the net and found Holden in the slot.
Dvorak scored at 15:16 of the first when he took a nice pass off the boards from Connor Murphy and his wrist shot deflected off Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei and past Raanta to make it 2-1.
New York made it 3-1 at 1:13 of the second period when Kreider camped in the slot and redirected Holden's shot past Smith.
Duclair got Arizona back within a goal at 15:32 when his pass intended for Dvorak deflected off Dan Girardi's stick and past Raanta.
Arizona tied it 3-3 on the power play at 7:32 when Rieder finished a give-and-go with Radim Vrbata.

Goal of the game

Kreider has six goals in his past five games against Arizona, and his pretty deflection of Holden's shot went down and under Smith's glove at 1:13 of the second period.

Save of the game

Raanta kept the Rangers in front with 19 minutes to play, doing the splits to rob Radim Vrbata off the post with a pretty pad save.

Unsung performance of the game

Kevin Hayes had two assists, three shots, seven faceoff wins and was in the middle of several scoring chances for New York.

Highlight of the game

Rieder skated into the offensive zone on a power play, sent a pass to Vrbata and tapped home the return feed to make it 3-3.

They said it

"I have to wake up from my dream here." -- Rangers forward Matt Puempel, who was claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 21

"We talked before the game about how we can't put them on the power play, and we did just that." -- Coyotes forward Anthony Duclair

Need to know

Puempel is the first Rangers player to score three power-play goals in a game since Mike Gartner on Jan. 31, 1994. New York hadn't scored four power-play goals in a road game in exactly nine years (Dec. 29, 2007), against the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Hanzal's assist on Rieder's goal was his 300th NHL point.

What's next

Rangers:At the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday (8 p.m. ALT, MSG 2, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN360, SN1, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)