Rangers Score Tying Goal In 3rd, Beat Canucks In Shootout

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Vesey scored the tying goal early in the third period and added the winner in the seventh round of a shootout to give the New York Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves to help the Rangers extend their winning streak to four games.

Vesey tied it at 5:05 of the third with a nifty forehand-backhand combination for his fifth goal of the season. Rick Nash set up the goal with a spinning pass.

Jesper Fast and Michael Grabner also scored for New York. Loui Eriksson, Jake Virtanen and Sam Gagner scored for Vancouver, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 shots.

Grabner tied it 19 seconds into the third with his 10th goal of the season, beating Markstrom with a wrist shot. Gagner put the Canucks back in front 41 second later. Tomas Vanek forced a turnover behind the net and fed Gagner in the slot.

Vancouver opened the scoring at 7:54 of the first when Eriksson snapped a wrist shot past Lundqvist. Rangers forward Paul Carey had trouble controlling an outlet pass from his teammate and turned over the puck. Canucks captain Henrik Sedin assisted to extend his points streak to four games. The Canucks outshot the Rangers 11-4 in the period.

The Canucks made it 2-0 at 7:21 of the second when Jake Virtanen fired a wrist shot over Lundqvist's glove. The Rangers were unable to clear the puck from the defensive zone, Virtanen pulled it away from the boards and took an uncontested shot.

Fast scored with 2:20 left in the period on a redirection. Nick Holden earned an assist for his 99th NHL point.

NOTES:

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh missed his third straight game with an abdominal strain. New York center Boo Nieves sat out because of a hip pointer. ... Grabner skated in his 497th game Sunday. Vanek and Grabner rank first and second, respectively, among Austrian-born players in games played, goals, assists, and points in NHL history. ... Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler skated in his 700th career NHL game. ... Cancusks defenseman Erik Gudbranson missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Brandon Sutter suffered an injury against the Devils on Friday, and will miss the remainder of the trip.

UP NEXT:

Canucks: At New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

Rangers: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

(Copyright 2017 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)