Rangers Dominate 3rd Period, Finish Off Ducks 4-1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Lindgren scored twice in the third period after Jarred Tinordi got credit for the tiebreaking goal in the New York Rangers' 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
Mika Zibanejad also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 13 saves as the Rangers got four unanswered goals and moved into a tie with Carolina for the Metropolitan Division lead with their fourth victory in five games.
Tinordi, a journeyman defenseman playing his sixth game with New York, got his second career goal and first since January 2020 early in the third period when his long shot deflected in off the stick of Jacob Perreault, the Ducks' 19-year-old prospect making his NHL debut.
Lindgren then scored on a high shot through traffic, and he added an empty-netter in the final minute for his first career two-goal game. New York's first visit to Honda Center since December 2019 was the second stop on a five-game trip that includes Vegas and all three California teams.
Isac Lundestrom scored and Anthony Stolarz stopped 36 shots in his first loss since Oct. 28 for the Ducks, who failed to earn a point at home for the first time in seven games since November. Anaheim has lost four of five since the holiday break.
New York outshot the Ducks 40-14, the fewest shots the Rangers had allowed since holding New Jersey to 13 in February 2012.
The Rangers' first two goals both went in off Stolarz's teammates, but the backup goalie otherwise had another solid performance while New York roundly outplayed Anaheim. His career-best, six-game winning streak still ended as the Ducks returned poorly from a four-day break caused by COVID-19 problems.
Ducks rookie star Trevor Zegras returned after missing four games in the COVID-19 protocols, and forward Nic Deslauriers returned after missing one game. They were two of several Anaheim players unavailable due to COVID-19 issues Thursday, compelling the league to postpone the Ducks' home game against Detroit to Sunday night.
Starting goalie John Gibson and defenseman Hampus Lindholm are still unavailable, while captain Ryan Getzlaf didn't play against the Rangers after exiting the protocols earlier Saturday.
New York played without forward Dryden Hunt, who got hurt in the loss at Vegas, and forward Julien Gauthier, who went in the COVID-19 protocols Friday.
Lundestrom opened the scoring midway through the second period with his eighth goal off an exceptional spinning pass from Troy Terry, whose 14th assist set a career high. He has already obliterated his previous career high with 21 goals.
Less than three minutes later, Zibanejad got credit for his 12th goal when the puck deflected in off the stick of Anaheim's Max Comtois, who turned 23 on Saturday.
Perreault is the son of NHL veteran Yanic Perreault. The 2020 first-round pick got promoted to the short-handed NHL club after his outstanding start in the AHL with San Diego.
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