Rangers defeat Canucks for third straight win

VANCOUVER --Injuries to two top-six forwards couldn't slow down the top offense in the NHL.
Missing Chris Kreider (upper body) and Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) for a second straight game, the New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 7-2 at Rogers Arena on Tuesday behind J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes, who each scored two goals.

WATCH: All Rangers vs. Canucks highlights
Brandon Pirri, Nick Holden and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Rangers (13-4-0), who swept the Western Canada part of their four-game road trip after defeating the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Saturday and the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Sunday.
New York has won eight of its past nine games, with the only loss coming against Vancouver last Tuesday, and leads the NHL with 72 goals.
"That's been the story so far, everybody producing," Miller said. "Obviously, it's surprising scoring at the rate we're scoring at right now, but we've got every line chipping in, and that's one of the hardest things to stop and it's something we've been doing since Game One."
Even without Kreider, who has 11 points, and Buchnevich, who has four goals and six points his past four games, the Rangers offense didn't miss a beat. Hayes scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway 1:49 into the third period to make it 4-1, and Miller got his second on a backdoor pass from Zuccarello 42 seconds later for a 5-1 New York lead.
Zuccarello, who had two assists, scored with 4:58 left to put the Rangers ahead 6-2, and Holden made it 7-2 when he scored with a one-timer on the power play with 1:56 remaining.
"A lot of guys with a lot of confidence," said New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 36 saves.

Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund scored for Vancouver (6-10-1), which has two wins in its past 13 games, and Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves.
"They scored on their chances, and that's the difference," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said.
Vancouver outshot New York 17-10 in the first period but couldn't beat Lundqvist, who made a couple tough stops shortly before Miller made it 1-0 with 1:18 left in the period.
Hayes gave New York a 2-0 lead when he scored with a slap shot 9:08 into the second period, and Pirri scored on a rebound of a Mika Zibanejad shot on the power play with 5:22 left in the period to make it 3-0.
Sutter beat Lundqvist with a wrist shot through a screen with 40.1 seconds left in the second period to make it 3-1, and Granlund knocked a loose puck out of the air with 6:34 left in the third to cut New York's lead to 5-2.
Lundqvist credited the Canucks for their hard work.
"But in the end you could see it was one team with a lot of confidence and one team looking for more," he said.

Goal of the game

Miller tipped Zuccarello's cross-ice pass between his legs and past a sliding Markstrom for his first goal. "He's a special passer, so I am just trying to go to the net and get a piece of that. I practice those a lot," Miller said.

Save of the game

Lundqvist pushed off his post and threw out the blocker to rob Michael Chaput on a point-blank one-timer with 7:08 left in the second period after a nice pass from below the goal line from Jack Skille. Pirri made it 3-0 less than two minutes later.

Unsung moment of the game

Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi reached out with his glove on a Granlund backdoor one-timer, getting enough of the shot to knock it down into Lundqvist as he slid across and into a two-pad stack. "Girardi saved a couple goals tonight," Lundqvist said.

Highlight of the game

Sent in alone from his own blue line, Hayes froze Markstrom with a fake to his backhand, pulling the puck quickly back to his forehand and lifting it over the goalie's outstretched blocker.

They said it

"We just know sooner or later good things are going to happen, someone is going to make a big play. The big thing is when guys are getting an opportunity, they are seeing net, they are not seeing a goalie right now, and that's huge to be able to score when you are under pressure for a while and you get an opportunity and make them pay."-- Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist
"We can't just be satisfied with playing well or getting chances. We have to find ways to be better. The room is focused on that. It's not like they are quitting. They're not giving up." -- Canucks coach Willie Desjardins

Need to know

Zibanejad and Jesper Fast each had two assists for the Rangers, who have 13 players with at least 10 points. … New York has limited its opponent to two goals or fewer in 11 of its past 14 games. … Canucks defenseman Luca Sbisa played in his 400th NHL game, the third Swiss player to do so. He had two assists. … Vancouver forward Daniel Sedin extended his point streak to six games with an assist.

What's next

Rangers: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, MSG, NHL.TV)
Canucks: Home against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNV, FS-A, NHL.TV)