Georgiev lifts Rangers past Oilers, earns first NHL win

EDMONTON -- Alexandar Georgiev made 35 saves for the New York Rangers, including 15 in the third period, to earn his first NHL win, 3-2 against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.

WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Oilers highlights]
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kreider and Paul Carey scored for New York, which swept a three-game Western Canada road trip.
"I made some saves early on, which gave me confidence from the first minute," Georgiev said. "The boys played really great in front of me. There weren't that many shots in the first period. It was great."

The Rangers (30-30-6) moved within three points of the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets in the race for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They won 3-1 against the Calgary Flames on Friday and 6-5 in overtime against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
"The goalie made some big saves and our group found a way to win," coach Alain Vigneault said. "It was (a) back-to-back, it was three (games) in four (days), we got in late last night. We hung on there a little bit, but I really liked the way we played, we had good energy, and that first goal gave us even more energy."
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for Edmonton (27-34-4), which has lost three games in a row. Cam Talbot made 31 saves.
Nugent-Hopkins played his first game since Jan. 13. He missed 18 games with a rib injury.
"It was good to get back out there, I got my legs under me after the first couple (of shifts)," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Unfortunately, that wasn't the start we wanted. The second half of the game, we played a lot better. I think we kept things simple for the second half of the game, and it started to work out for us."
Kreider scored on New York's first shot to make it 1-0. He beat Talbot 54 seconds into the game off a cross-crease pass from Zibanejad.

McDavid tied the game 1-1 at 5:43 of the second period on a shot from the left wing that beat Georgiev to the short side.
"Give credit to them, they defended well," McDavid said. "Their young D that were in the lineup, they defended well. They were always above guys and their forwards were responsible, and you have to give them credit."
Zibanejad scored on the power play at 7:51 to put the Rangers up 2-1, and Carey made it 3-1 at 9:07 of the second when he tipped a Cody McLeod shot.
Nugent-Hopkins got the Oilers to within 3-2 when he scored at 16:48 on a delayed penalty with Talbot pulled for an extra attacker. McDavid gained the zone, skated around Rangers defenseman Marc Staal, and sent a pass across to Nugent-Hopkins.
The Oilers had two power plays in the third period and outshot the Rangers 15-4. They took a too many men penalty with 1:18 left, preventing them from pulling Talbot for an extra attacker.
"There is one individual who gets assigned to come on for the goaltender," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "That individual left, obviously, light years before he should have. We had a line that replaced a line, and we had one individual who jumped on the ice when the goaltender was still in the crease."

Goal of the game

Carey's goal at 9:07 of the second period.

Save of the game

Georgiev stopping Darnell Nurse at 16:46 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Nugent-Hopkins' goal at 16:48 of the second period.

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They said it

"We're focusing on hockey and focusing on doing our jobs here and getting ready one game at a time. That's what we did on this trip, and we'll go back home and get ready for [the] Winnipeg [Jets]." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault on getting within three points of the second wild card into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference
"No matter how hard you tell guys to hit you in practice, they're taking something off, for sure. It's good to get out there and feel the contact again and get into the groove of it." -- Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on his first game back from a rib injury

Need to know

McLeod had a game-high six shots on goal. ... Oilers forward Milan Lucic has not scored a goal in 29 games dating to Dec. 23. … McDavid extended his point streak to four games (three goals, five assists). He has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past eight games. ... Edmonton defenseman Matt Benning had a game-high eight hits.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+ 2, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNOL, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)