Panarin's five points help Rangers defeat Stars

DALLAS -- Artemi Panarin had a goal and four assists for the New York Rangers in a 7-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

Dryden Hunt had three assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves for the Rangers (37-17-5), who had lost two straight.
"It was kind of a must-win game for us, although it wasn't, it kind of was just for our mental well-being," Hunt said. "It was only two games, but it felt like a couple of weeks of just not playing our best."
Esa Lindell had a goal and an assist for the Stars (32-22-3), who have lost two in a row after winning their previous four. Jake Oettinger made 22 saves.
Lindell scored 49 seconds into the first period to give Dallas a 1-0 lead. He carried the puck nearly the length of the ice, warded off Panarin and beat Shesterkin with a soft backhand from a sharp angle.
Tyler Seguin made it 2-0 at 4:53 when he redirected a shot from Joel Kiviranta.
Greg McKegg cut it to 2-1 at 9:45 when he deflected K'Andre Miller's shot through a screened Oettinger, and Mika Zibanejad tied it 2-2 at 12:59 with a one-timer from above the right face-off circle on the power play.
"I think we gave up too many chances for them, didn't take time and space away," Lindell said. "That good team like they are, they're going to make plays and hang on to pucks and make us run around. Then it's kind of havoc out there. I would say (we had) poor defense. (We) got to better at that, can't let up that many chances and goals."
Adam Fox gave New York a 3-2 lead at 14:14 of the first when he skated to the net and deflected Jacob Trouba's shot five-hole on Oettinger.
Panarin scored 36 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-2, creating separation against Joel Hanley and shooting blocker side.
"Good game for us," Panarin said. "Tough start again, like we do always. … Just start hard and tried to win every battle."

Jason Robertson scored his 30th of the season to cut it to 4-3 at 7:11 of the second period. He was credited with the goal when John Klingberg's one-timer on a 5-on-3 power play deflected off his glove in front.
"I think we have to try to get some crazy goals," Stars forward Roope Hintz said when asked about trying to stop a team from scoring four straight goals against them. "Get the pucks to the net, get guys going there, not trying to get the perfect play."

Patrik Nemeth made it 5-3 at 18:20, jamming in the puck following his backhand attempt on a wraparound.
"We played well in the first 10, then they played well in the [next] 10 in the first [period]," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "We played really well in the second. The fifth goal really hurt."
Joe Pavelski cut it to 5-4 at 8:09 of the third period with a deflection, but Barclay Goodrow beat Oettinger five-hole on a rush to make it 6-4 at 14:07.
Ryan Strome shot into an empty net at 18:23 for the 7-4 final.
"They're a real good forechecking team, that's what they do real well," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought we were tighter. We were more compact in the [defensive] zone. We talked about, 'Stop giving up these 20 chances a game.' You can't win and be successful doing that. I thought we got to more pucks, we were first on pucks more. There was support when we got the pucks, so we didn't spend as much time in our zone as we did the last two games."
NOTES: Rangers forward McKegg returned to the lineup after missing four games because of "personal reasons," Gallant said. ... Seguin played in his 800th NHL game.