WINNIPEG/ STOCKHOLM — Jimmy Vesey and Artemi Panarin scored two goals apiece as New York Rangers defeated New Jersey Devils 5-3, extending its point streak to 11 games.
“I know that it´s not always 60 minutes of domination, but no game ever is,” Rangers’ new coach Peter Laviolette said according to AP.
“I liked the way that we´ve come out and played and the way we attack teams at the start. I liked the fact that we´ve had to fight back in some third periods – we stayed with it. Guys are working hard to win.”
Elsewhere, Cole Perfetti scored in a fifth consecutive game as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2.
Mason Appleton and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored, and Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov each had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves. “I put an emphasis a bit more on shooting the puck, especially when the puck seems to be going in the back of the net,” the 21-year-old Perfetti said according to AP.
Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for the Sabres, who have lost three straight. Eric Comrie, making his first return to action since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 27, stopped 15 shots.
“I think in this league, it´s becoming more offensive, so we´ve got to find ways to score,” Tuch said. “I thought Hellebuyck played really well, but I thought we carried most of the pace, most of the tempo out there. It was good to see.
“I think we did it a little bit late, though. I think we can still start a little bit more on time.”
After a scoreless first period, the Jets only had five shots on goal in the second but scored three times.
Perfetti got the scoring started at 2:12 with his sixth goal of the season, which also extended his point streak to eight games (five goals, five assists).
“I feel better this year,” Perfetti said. “Even now from the beginning of the season, 16 games in, I feel like it is getting better each and every game. It´s been good.”
Appleton made it 2-0 at 4:33 when he raced to the net and got a timely pass from Niederreiter. Tuch responded 24 seconds later to get the Sabres on the scoreboard.
Ehlers appeared to catch Comrie off guard with a long shot that went past him to make it 3-1 at 8:12.
Jets interim head coach Scott Arniel said the Sabres´ play affected his team´s shot total.
“But at the same time, I thought there were a few times where I thought we should have fired the puck,” Arniel said. “But when you go 11 minutes without a shot in the second period, you´ve got to simplify things a little bit.
Elsewhere, Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his second goal in the last four games, Anton Lundell had two assists and the Florida Panthers continued their hot November with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of their nine games in November. Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots for the Panthers.
Frank Vatrano put in his team-leading 12th goal for Anaheim. John Gibson, who was in net for his 441st game with the Ducks and tied Guy Herbet for second-most in franchise history, made 31 saves.
Florida center Aleksander Barkov left in the third period after a knee-to-knee collision with Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe near center ice. Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Barkov would undergo further testing when the team returned to Florida.
“We’ve played some pretty darn good hockey (this month) and most of it is just scratch and claw and grind,” Maurice said. “I think in the first part of this game was the first time we were moving pretty good offensively.”
Frank Vatrano put in his team-leading 12th goal for Anaheim. John Gibson, who was in net for his 441st game with the Ducks and tied Guy Herbet for second-most in franchise history, made 31 saves.
“We weren´t very good. Let´s be honest. The first couple of periods, we were lucky it was only 2-1.,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.
“We waited until the third period. I think we were going before we got the power-play goal, we were getting some zone time. Then, we played with some urgency and it was too little, too late.”
Jakob Silfverberg thought he put in the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive video evidence to show that his shot crossed the Florida goal line.
Silfverberg said he thought the puck made it across the line, which a couple of angles on the videoboard showed, but it was not overturned to a goal.
“I really don´t have anything to say. I think anybody that watched the replay can form their own opinion,” Cronin said. “I saw the same thing that 16,000 people saw. I have to respect what they saw in Toronto. I have no control over it.”
