Vesey has three points in Rangers win against Sabres

NEW YORK -- Mika Zibanejad scored for the fifth consecutive game, rookie Neal Pionk scored his first NHL goal and the New York Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Jimmy Vesey had two goals and an assist. Zibanejad, Pionk and Chris Kreider each had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Hayes had two assists to give him 100 in his NHL career.

\[WATCH: All Sabres vs. Rangers highlights\]
Rookie
Alexandar Georgiev
made 43 saves for his third win in five starts (3-1-1) since March 12.
The Rangers (33-34-8), who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), are 12 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining.

"We have a very minimal chance on the playoffs and it's a very tough situation, but personally you want to still develop," Zibanejad said. "I don't know if prove yourself is the right word, but you want to continue growing and prove to yourself that you can do it."
Zibanejad leads the Rangers with 27 goals, including seven during his NHL career-long five-game goal-scoring streak and eight in his seven-game point streak (eight goals, four assists).
He had eight goals in 34 games from Dec. 19-March 8 after missing nine games with a concussion.
"Especially the situation I've had this year and the opportunity I've had this year, I think [a strong finish] could only be positive and more of a motivation for this summer and the upcoming season to step up and be a leader and keep playing well," Zibanejad said.

The Sabres (23-40-12), who have been eliminated from playoff contention, lost their fourth in a row in regulation. Buffalo has two goals in the past four games.
Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, who started for the first time in five games, allowed four goals on 12 shots before being relieved by
Linus Ullmark
with 11:15 remaining in the second period. Ullmark made 10 saves.
"We didn't defend well," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "We lost coverages. Guys were beating us up the ice. I think it goes back to have that respect in our own zone and for our goaltender. We have to keep the puck out of our net, and we didn't have that type of respect tonight."
Kreider, Vesey, Pionk and Zibanejad scored on four straight shots in a span of 12:16 bridging the first and second periods.

"Some pretty passing plays and it's in the back of the net," Zibanejad said. "Sometimes you get that momentum and pucks go in."
Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 16:29 of the first period with a tap-in from the left post off a cross-crease pass from Zibanejad. Vesey made it 2-0 at 18:02 when he knocked down Mats Zuccarello's shot and slipped the puck past Lehner.
Pionk scored at 3:59 of the second off a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Vesey for a 3-0 lead, and Kreider set up Zibanejad for a power-play goal at 8:45 to make it 4-0.
Vesey scored a power-play goal at 14:47 to boost the lead to 5-0.

Sam Reinhart pulled the Sabres within 5-1 with a power-play goal at 15:26 of the third period. It was his 20th goal of the season.
"We had some Grade-A chances that we were able to capitalize on," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Unfortunately, we lost [Georgiev's] shutout there, but for the most part we had some good looks, we were able to capitalize and our goaltender was able to make some big saves."

Goal of the game

Kreider's goal at 16:29 of the first period.

Save of the game

Georgiev's save on Jordan Nolan at 7:40 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Pionk's goal at 3:59 of the second period.

They said it

"I can only really speak for myself, but I just have to be better. I have to compete better [defensively] and make it more difficult for the guys I'm playing against because it was too easy for them tonight." -- Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly
"It's just disbelief when it first went in. You don't even realize it. Those guys come over, they give you a big hug, you go through the line and all of a sudden you look up at the scoreboard, take a deep breath and kind of say to yourself, 'Wow, I actually did it.' " -- Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk on his first NHL goal

Need to know

The Rangers top line of Zibanejad, Kreider and Jesper Fast (one assist) has 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in the past five games. … Fast extended his NHL career-long point streak to eight games (three goals, 10 assists), the longest by a Rangers player this season. … Pionk has points in seven straight games (one goal, nine assists) to tie Brian Leetch (1988-89) for longest by a Rangers rookie defenseman. … Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist didn't dress for the second consecutive game because of back and neck pain.

What's next

Sabres:At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Washington Capitals on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)