Kreider breaks tie in 3rd, Rangers edge Canucks for 3rd straight win

VANCOUVER -- Chris Kreider scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the New York Rangers in a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Mika Zibanejad, Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko each had a goal and an assist, Adam Fox had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves for the Rangers (12-4-1), who have won three games in a row and four of their past five.

“The majority of the game we were controlling play and getting lots of chances,” Cuylle said.

New York outshot Vancouver 33-24 and scored three goals off the rush.

“When you're able to make a defensive play and get the puck back early in your shift, you have more energy to go the other way and you're able to take advantage of the quick odd-man rush you get,” Zibanejad said. “So just a solid, solid game honestly.”

Elias Pettersson had two assists, and Arturs Silovs made 29 saves for Canucks (9-6-3), who lost two in a row to finish 2-4-0 during a six-game homestand.

“The last two games we played hard, just couldn't make that key play,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “They made the key play. We didn't. That's what it comes down to, key plays that we didn't do in the last couple games. So we'll learn from that.”

Vancouver was playing its first game since announcing J.T. Miller’s indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. It has also been without No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko (lower body) all season and without Brock Boeser (upper body) for the past five games.

“It's definitely been a lot,” Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said. “And guys are going through a lot, but I’m really proud of the way we responded tonight, and how we battled and competed. And I think we’ve got a really, really tight group that's going to make us stronger throughout the season. But I think we’ve just got a great coaching staff, great organization management. And we're all in this together.”

Hughes scored 34 seconds into the game, taking a pass at the left point, deking past defenseman Jacob Trouba into the slot, and scoring on a backhand that beat Shesterkin’s blocker to make it 1-0.

Zibanejad tied it 1-1 at 2:31 by deflecting K'Andre Miller's point shot from inside the left circle, catching Silovs sliding the other way.

“We played a really good first period, maybe one of our best,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We could have done a couple things differently that maybe could have helped prevent [the first goal], but to come right back and score, to me, that's important."

Cuylle got behind the Canucks defense on a change and made it 2-1 with a breakaway wrist shot over Silovs’ glove at 14:38.

“The puck was spinning like crazy, so I didn't want to stick handle it a lot because you never know how it's going to behave when it's spinning like that,” Cuylle said. “So I just kind of tried to let it do its own thing and then just give it a hard smack.”

Kiefer Sherwood tied it 2-2 off the rush at 17:39, taking a cross-ice pass from Pettersson and scoring on a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.

Kakko put New York ahead 3-2 on a rush at 8:45 of the second period when Cuylle’s cross-ice pass deflected off the skate of defenseman Carson Soucy and found Kakko, who put it in the open net.

“Kind of a little lucky bounce that one,” Kakko said. “Just went to the net and find the puck and try to shoot, that's all.”

Conor Garland tied it 3-3 on a rush chance at 13:02, taking a pass from Dakota Joshua and using Pius Suter as a screen to shoot high blocker from inside the left circle.

Kreider made it 4-3 at 10:43 of the third period, taking a pass from Reilly Smith and scoring on a wrist shot from the left face-off dot.

Zibanejad started the play by forcing a turnover just outside the Vancouver blue line.

“When he attacks with that speed and he's attacking the offensive zone, not only does he become dangerous, but other players on his line become dangerous,” Laviolette said of Zibanejad. “He can push defenses back on his attack, and then either deliver pucks or look for something. So he was good. Their line was good.”

NOTES: New York played its second game without center Filip Chytil, who sustained an upper-body injury, but he is expected to rejoin the team in Calgary on Wednesday. … Joshua’s assist was his first point in four games this season after recovering from surgery for testicular cancer in September. … Pettersson has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past six games after scoring five points (two goals, three assists) in his first 12 games this season.