Fast, Rangers send Predators to season-high sixth straight loss

NASHVILLE -- Jesper Fast scored two goals and had an assist, and Mika Zibanejad had four assists for the New York Rangers in a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Chris Kreider had a goal and two assists, and Marc Staal scored for the Rangers (16-14-7), who ended a three-game losing streak (0-1-2). Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves.
"It's obviously nice to be able to contribute offensively," Zibanejad said. "Having the role I have, I'm going against those top guys all the time. It's fun, but I think the best way to keep them out of our zone is to keep the puck in theirs. The guys I'm playing with are doing an unbelievable job of holding on to pucks."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Predators highlights]
Nick Bonino scored two goals, and Kevin Fiala had a goal and two assists for the Predators (22-15-2), who are 0-5-1 in their past six games. Pekka Rinne made 18 saves.
"We've just got to keep putting our foot down on the gas here," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "Again, there was good things that we did tonight. I don't like the fact that we had a lead going into the third period and we let it get away. That's usually where we're at our strongest."
Fast returned to the lineup after missing five games because of an upper-body injury.
"We were more competitive, we were more passionate, and obviously [Fast] gets rewarded statistically," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "As I said before the game, there's a reason we put that line together. [Zibanejad] played his best hockey with [Fast and Kreider], and they were obviously our best line tonight and our most effective line tonight."

Staal tied the game 3-3 at 4:23 of the third period on the rush. He took a pass from Fast and shot to the blocker side for his third goal.
"It was a lot of intensity, a lot of physical play early, and it kind of sustained throughout the rest of the game," Staal said. "It was a hard-fought game by both teams. It's nice to come out on top for sure."

Fast gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead at 7:35 on a one-timer from the slot. He took a pass from Zibanejad and scored his fifth of the season.
"He always finds a way to make the right play," Lundqvist said. "Around the board, the little plays, they're so important. And hopefully the young players here, they watch him play. I think that's the way to play in this league, night in, night out. To get points consistently you need to do the little things right all the time, and he finds a way. It's huge to have him back, and he came up with some big blocks at the end."
Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 2:42 of the first period on a redirection on the power play. Zibanejad passed to Kreider, who tipped it for his 20th goal.

Bonino tied it 1-1 at 8:43 on the power play on a redirection for his seventh goal.
Fast gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 3:51 of the second period on a shot from the slot.
Fiala tied it 2-2 at 4:44 on the rush with his seventh goal.
Bonino gave the Predators a 3-2 lead at 10:35 on the power play.

They said it

"We've been talking about winning in this league. It's not playing great all the time, it's playing smart and finding a way. I think that's more important than to feel like you've played a great game all the time. That's not going to win you games. It's the smartness and key plays at the right time. There's so many games obviously we could've won. We played good enough to win a lot of games, but it came down to a couple plays in the end that turned the game around so it's important not to overreact to that." -- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist
"Today the whole team played pretty good. Just tough goals we got against us in the third period. Now we look forward for the next game. We've got to win it."-- Predators forward Kevin Fiala

Need to know

Rangers forward Kevin Hayes extended his point streak to an NHL career-high nine games with an assist. He has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) during that span. … Kreider has five goals in a four-game point streak. … Predators forward Kyle Turris did not play because of a lower-body injury. He is day to day. … Fiala's three-point game was his first in the NHL.

What's next

Rangers: At the St. Louis Blues on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-SW, MSG, NHL.TV)
Predators:At the Washington Capitals on Monday (12:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, TVAS, NBCSWA, FS-TN, NHL.TV)