Rangers score five against Flyers to end losing streak

NEW YORK -- Henrik Lundqvist won his 20th game of the season, and Rick Nash scored twice for the New York Rangers in a 5-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Lundqvist, who made 25 saves, became the first goalie in NHL history to win at least 20 games in each of his first 13 seasons. He also is the first goalie to have 13 straight 20-win seasons at any point during his NHL career.
"Every time they say, 'First time in NHL history,' that's pretty cool because it's been around for a while, I'm not going to lie," Lundqvist said. "I've been working hard, but I always say this: I've been very lucky to play with a lot of great players … the first five, six years with all the legends you played with really. You learn from really good players. I'm honored and proud."
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Rangers highlights]
Lundqvist, who is 20-11-4 this season, is 425-260-80 in his NHL career, which began in 2005-06, the first season without ties.
"Good players make good coaches, and good goaltending without a doubt is a big part of that," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I've been very fortunate to have some good goaltenders in front of me, and Hank is a real pro. His preparations, the way he can adjust his game, is a big part of his success."

J.T. Miller, Paul Carey and Michael Grabner scored for the Rangers (23-17-5), who ended a three-game losing streak.
Jordan Weal scored for the Flyers (20-16-8), who had a four-game winning streak end.
Weal gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 2:06 of the first period, tipping a Radko Gudas shot. It was his sixth goal of the season and third in the past six games.
The Rangers scored the next three goals. Nash tied the game at 1-1 after Pavel Buchnevich's pass sent him in on a breakaway at 6:30. Miller made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 16:50, and Carey's shorthanded goal with 10 seconds remaining gave New York a 3-1 lead.
"On that [penalty-kill] goal, they entered our zone for a 1-on-4 for probably three, four, five seconds," Flyers forward Jakub Voracek said. "I just thought in the first half of the game, in all the areas of the game that mattered, they were the quicker, hungrier team."

Grabner made it 4-1 with his 20th of the season at 10:48 of the second period.
"Those are ones we can prevent," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "They're a good transition team, so when you give them opportunities, whether it's a turnover out of their defense or a turnover entering the zone, our awareness on those plays was not what it needs to be."
Nash's 11th of the season made it 5-1 at 17:28 of the second.
"Personally, I feel like my game is good, I just haven't been able to put the puck in the net, and tonight two go in," Nash said. "It's only one game. It's not that big of a deal to me. It's what I'm supposed to do."
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott allowed five goals on 21 shots before he was pulled for Michal Neuvirth to start the third period. Neuvirth made eight saves.
"Didn't have them tonight, so I have to go back to work and try to feel good about my game," Elliott said. "That's not where I wanted to be tonight. I thought I didn't really give ourselves a chance to win and I have to own a lot of that."

The Rangers allowed 12 goals in their previous two games and at least five goals in three of their prior five.
"I was just talking to [Lundqvist] and we both said that was our best collective defensive game in a long time," New York defenseman Brady Skjei said. "And scoring five goals, that's a testament to our playing good structurally and good team defense first."

Goal of the game

Nash's goal at 6:30 of the first period.

Save of the game

Lundqvist's save on Claude Giroux at 16:26 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Carey's goal at 19:50 of the first period.

They said it

"I felt like the whole team played really well tonight. It was a smart game, our best defensive game in a long time, and at the same time, we scored five goals. That's a message we should really bring with us for the next one." -- Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist
"It's tough, that's a good team. They played well today. They played simple in the beginning. They were chipping every puck in and they weren't making many mistakes." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek

Need to know

Rangers defenseman Marc Staal did not play in the third period because of a hip flexor injury. Vigneault said it is not believed to be serious. … It was Nash's second two-goal game of the season (Nov. 11 vs. Edmonton Oilers). ... Lundqvist (.962 save percentage Tuesday) set an NHL career high with his 15th straight game with a save percentage of .900 or better. His win came two years to the day when he became the first goalie in NHL history to win at least 20 games in each of his first 11 seasons (a 3-2 shootout win against the Flyers). … Giroux played his 700th NHL game. ... Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk does not have a goal in his past 29 games.

What's next

Flyers: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, NBCSP, SNO, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, MSG, NHL.TV)