Associated Press
Derek Stepan scored twice, including a pretty coast-to-coast goal just after the Rangers killed a penalty, and the Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 6-1 on Sunday night.
Stepan also assisted on Marian Gaborik's goal late in the second period that made it 5-1 and seemed to take what spring remained out of the Panthers. The Rangers looked nothing like a team playing for the second night in a row, putting away the Panthers for their fourth win in six games.
Brad Richards, Artem Anisimov and former Panthers defenseman Steve Eminger also scored for the Blueshirts. Erik Gudbranson scored for Florida, which has lost two in a row following a three-game winning streak.
Florida went down 2-0 early after Richards and Anisimov scored power-play goals, but the Panthers replied 30 seconds after Anisimov shoveled home Erik Christensen's rebound off the post. Gudbranson scored on a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 1:53 left in the first.
Stepan's first goal came 5:45 after the first intermission. He darted down the right side and fired a wrist shot past Jose Theodore that made it 3-1 just after the Panthers failed to tie it while New York enforcer Brandon Prust was off for high-sticking.
The Rangers soon followed with two more goals, getting their fifth when Gaborik reached over to knock home a rebound and their sixth when Stepan buried a rebound with 2:12 left in the period.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist had 20 saves for the win.
• COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY
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STAT OF THE GAME
The Rangers improved to 3-0-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season, including a 3-0-0 mark when the game is played at Madison Square Garden. Since the 2009-10 season, the Rangers are 24-8-3 in the second game of back-to-backs, with a 12-3-1 mark at The Garden over the 35-game span.
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| (selected by the local media) |
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| 1. Stepan |
2. Del Zotto |
3. Eminger |
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[38-26-18]
[51-24-7]