Montreal Canadiens defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic (26) fights for puck with New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey, left, in the first period of an NHL hockey game on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)
NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Kreider scored a hat trick, Adam Fox had four assists and Jonathan Quick made 31 saves as the New York Rangers downed the Montreal Canadiens 7-4 on Thursday to match a season-best with their sixth straight victory.
Mika Zibanejad added a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who also got goals from Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck and Kaapo Kakko. Artemi Panarin added three assists.
The Rangers, who equaled their season high for goals, scored four times in 4:10 during the second period after Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the first.
“We came out in the second with a bit of fire and a bit more jam,” Fox said. ”A lot of the shots on net. We got some goals from that.”
Cole Caufield had two goals for Montreal, which has lost three of four. Jake Evans and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens.
The 38-year-old Quick became the oldest goaltender in Rangers history with a four-game winning streak. He is 13-4-2 overall this season, and the victory moved him within one of tying Dominik Hasek for 15th place in NHL history (389). Quick is three wins from tying Ryan Miller for most among American-born goaltenders at 391.
The Rangers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games and 5-0-0 in February coming out of the All-Star break. They lead the Metropolitan Division by eight points, equaling a season high. Second-place Carolina has two games in hand.
Evans opened the scoring with his fourth goal of the season, beating Quick at 14:29 of the first.
Kreider tied it at 11:09 of the second. Shortly after he was denied on a breakaway by Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault, Kreider rifled the puck into the Montreal net. Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba assisted.
Cuylle put the home team ahead 2-1 with his 10th goal at 12:27….
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