Rangers beat Bruins 7-4 in Eastern Conference showdown

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Vesey put New York ahead late in the second period, Chris Kreider scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves to help the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 7-4 on Saturday in a matchup of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

New York improved to 15-3-1. They are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games and have 15 wins in 19 or fewer games for the first time in franchise history.

Kreider scored on the power play and short-handed. He leads the Rangers with 13 goals. Nick Bonino, K’Andre Miller, Tyler Pitlick and Artemi Panarin also scored and Vincent Trocheck had two assists.

Charlie Coyle scored twice for Boston (14-3-3), which was coming off a 5-2 home loss to Detroit on Friday. Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak also scored for the Bruins.

NEW YORK (AP) — Samuel Errson made 25 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped four more attempts in a shootout, Tyson Foerster scored in the fourth round of the tiebreaker and Philadelphia outlasted New York.

Errson had his first shutout of the season and second in the NHL. He stopped Bo Horvat, Oliver Wahlstrom, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri in the shootout to help the Flyers snap a two-game skid.

Ilya Sorokin made 40 saves for the Islanders for this second shutout of the season.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored twice, Pheonix Copley made 18 saves for his third career shutout and Los Angeles beat Montreal for its fifth consecutive victory.

Carl Grundstrom and Trevor Lewis also scored. The Kings have won nine of 11 to improve to 13-3-3.

Jake Allen stopped 26 shots for Montreal.

DEVILS 7, SABRES 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored twice, Vitek Vanecek needed just nine saves and New Jersey routed Buffalo to snap a three-game losing streak.

Alexander Holtz, Nico Hischier, Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer and Luke Hughes also scored to help the Devils rebound from a 2-1 home loss to Columbus on Friday. Theys won for first time at home since Oct. 29 and for the second time in eight games overall.

Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo scored for Buffalo.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Erik Karlsson scored the deciding goal in the final minute of the second period and Pittsburgh held off Toronto.

Jake Guentzel and Noel Acciari also scored and Tristan Jarry made 34 saves to help the Penguins end a two-game losing streak.

Matthew Knies and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for Toronto.