Associated Press
Artem Anisimov had a goal and two assists, Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves, and the Rangers continued their recent success against the Philadelphia Flyers with a 5-2 victory on Sunday.
Marian Gaborik, Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for Eastern Conference-leading New Rangers, who has won six straight against Philadelphia, including their four games this season. It was Anisimov's first points in 18 games.
Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers. It was their first game against the Rangers since the Winter Classic in Philadelphia on Jan. 2.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's career-best shutout streak ended at 182 minutes, 37 seconds when Schenn scored in the second period, but the All-Star goaltender still improved to 24-14-4 on the season.
Anisimov opened the scoring at 1:04 of the first period. He also assisted on Gaborik's second-period goal and Del Zotto's go-ahead score at 1:33 of the third, which came 36 seconds after Simmonds tied it at 2. Dubinsky added an insurance goal at 12:15 and Fedotenko had an empty-netter at 18:44
Gaborik's 26th goal of the season with 5 seconds remaining in the second -- moments after he lay stunned on the ice behind the Flyers net after a hard check -- put the Rangers in front 2-1. Gaborik got up and slipped a backhand past goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov after defenseman Andrej Meszaros had leveled him.
Anisimov's goal was his eighth of the season and came on a tip in of Dan Girardi's slap shot. Anisimov's previous point had been an assist Dec. 22 against the New York Islanders.
Schenn tied it on a picture-perfect breakaway goal at 12:02 of the second. Just out of the penalty box, he took a pass from Jakub Voracek and beat Lundqvist by lifting a backhand over his glove hand.
The Rangers are 16-4-1 in their last 21 games and 30-9-3 since they started the season 3-3-2.
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STATS OF THE GAME
The Rangers’ .710 winning percentage through 50 games is the team’s best start in 40 years, when the 1971-72 Blueshirts began the season with a 32-10-8 record (.720). The current record after 50 games trails only the 1971-72 season in ranking as the second best start in franchise history. In addition, the Rangers completed a sweep of their season series against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden, outscoring the Flyers 11-4 in three games. The last time the Rangers swept their home series against the Flyers was during the 1991-92 season, when the Blueshirts posted a 4-0-0 mark against Philadelphia at The Garden.
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| (selected by the local media) |
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| 1. Gaborik |
2. Lundqvist |
3. Dubinsky |
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[47-26-9]
[51-24-7]