TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Alexis Lafreniere had three goals and two assists, Jonathan Quick broke the victory record for U.S.-born goalies and the NHL-leading New York Rangers reached 50 wins, beating the Arizona Coyotes 8-5 on Saturday.
Jonathan Quick stopped 27 shots in moving past Ryan Miller with his 392nd victory.
Artemi Panarin had an empty-net goal with 2:25 left, his 44th of the season, and had three assists to give him 63. Lafreniere got the hat trick with an empty-netter with 14 seconds left. He has 25 goals, a career high for the 2020 first overall pick.
“What an amazing career for him,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said about Quick, who broke into the league in 2007-08.
The 38-year-old spent 16 seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. He won two Stanley Cups and was the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP in 2011-12.
“It’s a fun team to be a part of,” Quick said about the Rangers. “These guys work hard every day, they push each other.
“We’ve been finding different ways to win throughout the year. We have that confidence and the ability. They tied it up and the game could go either way and we find a way to win.”
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As for Lafreniere, Laviolette said, “He continues to play really well. His line was dangerous the entire game.”
“We’ve done a pretty good job of coming together this year. It was back and forth a little bit but they’ve got a good young team. We came out in the third period and we did the job.”
Tied at 3 in the third period, the Rangers scored three times in the first 10 minutes to seemingly break it open. Chris Kreider, Zac Jones and Barclay Goodrow had the goals in the third, with Goodrow’s short-handed strike the eventual deciding goal.
Arizona cut it to 6-5 before the empty-net goals sealed the win.
The Rangers, with 104 points, won their fifth straight and finished March 10-3-1. New York is 20-4-1 since February.
Ryan Lindgren had a goal and two assists for the Rangers.
Matias Maccelli, Clayton Keller, Nick Bjugstad, Lawson Crouse and Logan Cooley scored for Arizona. Keller has a season-high eight-game points streak. He has 31 goals. Bjugstad has goals in four straight games.
Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for Arizona, which has lost six in a row over three seasons to the Rangers.
“We played good defense but we had major breakdowns, critical mistakes. That’s frustrating,” said Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny, whose team is 4-2 on a seven-game homestand. “There’s a lot of positives. We want more. We scored five goals against a really good team.”
Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba returned after missing 11 games because of a lower body injury. The Rangers captain last played March 4.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Host Pittsburgh on Monday night.
Coyotes: Host Vancouver on Wednesday night.
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