Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots to lead the surging Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
Filip Chytil and Brett Howden scored to help Lundqvist get his 437th career win, tying Jacque Plante for seventh on the N.H.L.’s career list. The Rangers improved to 6-0-1 in their last seven games.
Lundqvist made two big saves against Elias Pettersson, Vancouver’s standout rookie, in the closing seconds to preserve the win.
Vancouver’s Nikolay Goldobin scored the first goal of the game, and Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Canucks, whose six-game point streak (4-0-2) came to an end.
The 19-year-old Chytil tied the score at 1-1 with 7 minutes 18 seconds left in the second on a rebound from the left side for his first of the season. After earning a spot on the roster out of training camp, he struggled to find the back of the net in the first 18 games. The goal was something of a reward for the patience of Rangers Coach David Quinn, who said earlier in the day that he had not lost faith in the talented teenager. Chris Kreider and Neal Pionk assisted on the play.
The 20-year-old Howden got the winner with 8:41 left in the third when he snapped a wrist shot past Markstrom. Jimmy Vesey and Jesper Fast assisted on the play. Howden missed one game earlier in November for precautionary reasons after a scary collision with the end boards against the Buffalo Sabres.
Goldobin gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 3:16 of the second. Shortly after exiting the penalty box, Goldobin picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and started an odd-man rush for Vancouver. The Russian winger kept it himself and lined a shot into the top corner. Tyler Motte and Ben Hutton assisted on the play.
The Canucks thought they doubled their advantage less than a minute later when Michael Del Zotto’s shot hit both posts and the cross bar. The referees initially called the play a goal, but it was overturned after a video review.
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