Rangers Top Kings on Late Nash Goal

Coach Alain Vigneault moved winger Rick Nash to a line with J.T. Miller and Mats Zuccarello to try and get No. 61 going offensively.
It worked.
Nash scored the game-winning goal with 3:27 remaining in the third to break a 2-2 tie with Los Angeles on the way to a 4-2 Rangers victory over the Pacific Division-leading Kings at Madison Square Garden.
Nash scooped up a loose puck at center ice and broke down the left-wing boards and fired a low wrist shot that beat Jonathan Quick just inside the near post for his second goal in three games to cap a what had been a dominant performance despite the lack of production.

"Yeah I did," Nash said if he felt a goal was coming. "I feel like I've been getting so many chances each game. I've been through a few stretches where pucks aren't going in the way you want them to. They always say it's important to get the opportunities and I think they've been there the last little bit."
Nash's teammates, too, were happy to see him get rewarded in a big moment after the way he's played as of late, namely away from the puck.
"I think we all knew it was just a matter of time and hopefully this opens the flood gates because he does so much for us, penalty killing, power play, net-front presence," Ryan McDonagh said. "Just creating offensive zone looks. It's been a tremendous season for him creating offense like that. It's great to see him get rewarded with a great finish."
After generating just one power play of their last two games, New York made the most of their first chance with the man advantage against a Kings team that entered the contest with an NHL-best 87.6 percent success rate.
But Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the point found its way through traffic and off Chris Kreider to put New York ahead 10:23 into the contest. The goal was Kreider's 11th of the season and 100th of his NHL career.
Former Ranger Marian Gaborik - playing in his 1,000th NHL game - tied the game 3:46 into the period when his low wrist shot sputtered through Lundqvist's legs and into the net.

Kevin Hayes put New York back ahead by one late in the first. Ryan McDonagh fed Hayes a pass just inside the Kings net for an odd-man rush in tight with Michael Grabner, but Hayes opted to shoot and fired the puck through Jonathan Quick for his seventh of the year at 14:43 of the middle stanza.
Torrey Mitchell tied the game at 2 when he capitalized off a rebound following a Lundqvist save on Gaborik at 7:59. Nash's goal regained the lead for New York and J.T. Miller iced things with an empty-net tally with 53.4 seconds remaining.
Tonight's performance against one of the NHL's best quickly erased the memory of back-to-back losses earlier in the week, and thus makes the trip to Boston for tomorrow's game against the Bruins all the more enjoyable.
"Tonight, it would be tough to sit here and feel like we played a pretty strong game but not getting the points," said Lundqvist, who finished with 33 saves. "Right now, that's all we're looking for: to get the points. We found a way."