Granlund, Staal power Wild past Rangers

NEW YORK --Mikael Granlund and Eric Staal played on the same line for the first time in more than two months and each scored two goals and four points to help the Minnesota Wild send the New York Rangers to their sixth straight loss, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves for the Wild (34-20-7), who have won four in a row on the road. Minnesota moved into third place in the Central Division with 75 points, one more than the idle Dallas Stars.

"We're just building to make the playoffs," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We don't care if it's first, second or third. There's not a weak team in the top 10 or top 12, so it doesn't matter, just want to get there."
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Rangers highlights]
Granlund and Staal hadn't started a game on the same line since Dec. 12, a 2-1 shootout win against the Calgary Flames. Boudreau said he put them together because Granlund had been slumping and he thought it might get him going playing with Staal and left wing Jason Zucker.
Granlund hadn't scored since Jan. 25, a span of 11 games.
"I thought let's try it for a period and see how it goes," Boudreau said. "They were pretty good."
Granlund ended his goal drought at 16:06 of the first period by cashing in from in front of the net after Staal knocked down Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo's pass from behind the net. The puck came right to Granlund, who roofed a shot past Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev.

Staal made it 2-0 at 18:43 by completing a pretty passing sequence with Zach Parise with a goal from the slot. It was initially awarded to Granlund, but changed to Staal, who said he knew it was his all along.
Jesper Fast scored his ninth goal of the season to cut the lead to 2-1 at 2:41 of the second period for the Rangers (27-30-5), who are 3-13-0 since Jan. 20. Georgiev, who started for the second consecutive game in place of Henrik Lundqvist, made 33 saves.
The Rangers remain six points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We're in a result-oriented business; everybody here wants to win," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "The guys were ready. In my mind, we worked hard and we had some good time. We just weren't able to make the plays that we needed to make to get something out of that. The effort and preparation is there. We just have to stay with it."
Staal scored 52 seconds into the third period on a deflection of defenseman Ryan Suter's point shot during Minnesota's only power play for a 3-1 lead.

Granlund scored off a 2-on-1 rush with Zucker at 9:22 to make it 4-1.
It was Granlund's second four-point game in the NHL. He had four points against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 4, 2017. It was Staal's 13th NHL game with at least four points, but first with the Wild.
"You always try and elevate whoever you're playing with to help the team get success," Staal said. "[Granlund] is a great offensive player. Sometimes when you're close but you're pressing it can be time for a different change or look. It looked like once he got that first one he was really starting to feel it. They were fun guys to play with."
Rangers forward Chris Kreider returned to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 27. He missed 24 games because of a blood clot in his arm that required rib resection surgery. Kreider had two shots on goal and four hits in 15:59.

Goal of the game

Granlund's goal at 9:22 of the third period.

Save of the game

Dubnyk's consecutive saves on John Gilmour, at 10:18 and 10:21 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Staal's goal at 18:43 of the first period.

They said it

"When [Granlund] is on and he's feeling it like that, every time he touches the puck he's expected to do something good with it. It was fun to watch. Especially after he got his first goal, I think he felt there was a little bit of relief there and he started to go after that." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"I felt like it was my first NHL game again. I was kind of nervous all day. It was definitely an emotional game for me, thinking about where I was six weeks ago and the position I was in, kind of reflecting on all of the support that I had. It's hard because obviously the team is going through a rough time, but I couldn't stop smiling. I'm just happy to be playing hockey again." -- Rangers forward Chris Kreider

Need to know

Rangers forward Rick Nash was scratched for the second straight game in expectation of him being traded before the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday at 3 p.m. ET. … Vigneault said Lundqvist didn't play because goalie coach Benoit Allaire wanted to have some extra practice time with him before he plays again.

What's next

Wild: Host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHL Network, MSG, FS-D, NHL.TV)