Rangers score 3 straight, rally past Predators

NASHVILLE – Vincent Trocheck had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers scored three consecutive goals in a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Adam Fox had three assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves for the Rangers (17-4-1), who have won five of their past six games and won their league-leading 10th road game of the season. New York needed only 13 games to reach that mark, the fewest in its history.

“You’re down 2-0 in a game, and it’s always tough to climb out of a hole when you’re on the road,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “The first didn’t go the way we want (outshot 18-8). In the second period, I thought we just played a much better period. We played faster, the power play looked sharper and our guys were more on point and competed hard.

“And then as the game went on, it really became a competitive game, blocking shots, physical, one-on-one battles. I thought our guys did a really good job just crawling back into that game and really gutting one out.”

Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist for the Predators (11-12-0), who have lost consecutive games. Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves.

“I thought we played pretty well to be honest,” Nashville defenseman Roman Josi said. “I thought we had a really good first. And in the second, they pushed for a little bit. They’re the best team in the League right now. That’s kind of expected. But to be quite honest, obviously, you don’t want to lose that game, but I thought we played pretty well. Probably deserved to win.”

Ryan Lindgren gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead at 5:10 of the third period on a shot from the left circle that went off Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and into the net.

“Definitely not a great start by us,” Lindgren said. “[Shesterkin] definitely kept us in it. It seemed like in the second period, we kind of got it going. Too many penalties, but for the most part, we battled back and ended up getting the win.”

O’Reilly gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 6:19 of the first period on a wrist shot over the blocker of Shesterkin from the left circle.

Josi gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 15:52 of the first period with a wrist shot on the power play.

Jacob Trouba cut it to 2-1 31 seconds into the second period when Trocheck found him with a pass from behind the net.

Colton Sissons gave the Predators a 3-1 lead at 7:28 of the second period on a short-handed breakaway. Yakov Trenin chipped the puck off the boards to Sissons, who shot past Shesterkin on the glove side.

Chris Kreider made it 3-2 at 8:52 of the second period on a rebound of his own shot that he batted out of the air off a face-off win as a power play expired.

“I was horrible in the face-off circle tonight (won 10 of 21), and that played a big factor,” O’Reilly said. “On the PK, I’ve got to at least create a 50-50 battle. I can’t be losing them clean like I have been. That could’ve been the difference tonight, and it’s crazy how it comes down to little plays. I’m disappointed in myself. I was awful in the face-off circle tonight.”

Trocheck tied the game 3-3 19 seconds later on a redirection of a shot pass to the slot by Mika Zibanejad on the power play.

“We found a way to kind of calm ourselves down in between periods and found a way to pick our game back up,” Trouba said. “Came out and played a really good second and followed it up with the third. A lot of guys contributed, especially those last two periods. [Shesterkin] made a lot of good saves. Not our best game I would say, but we found a way to come back and get a win.”

NOTES: Scissons scored his third short-handed goal of the season to tie Simon Holmstron (New York Islanders) and Logan O’Connor (Colorado Avalanche) for the most in the NHL this season. … Kreider and Trocheck's goals were the fastest two goals by the Rangers this season. … The Rangers had their League-tying eighth comeback win of the season, but this was their first multi-goal comeback victory.  … Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie was a healthy scratch.