NEW YORK — Ty Kartye and Will Cuylle each scored twice and Dylan Garand made 19 saves as the New York Rangers beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, winning their first game since losing star goalie Igor Shesterkin for the season.
Kartye opened the scoring just 27 seconds into the game before Vancouver's Jake DeBrusk tied it at 17:04 of the first period. Cuylle put New York ahead at 2:09 of the second, but Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson answered short-handed at 16:56 to make it 2-2. Kartye snapped the tie with his second goal at 18:25 of the second, and the Rangers pulled away in the third. Alexis Lafreniere extended the lead to 4-2 with his team-leading fifth goal on the power play at 1:04, Gabe Perreault made it 5-2 at 5:57, and Cuylle added his second with less than five minutes to play. J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists, and Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves for Vancouver.
The win came two nights after Shesterkin injured his right knee in a 3-1 loss at Washington on Friday, an injury that will sideline him for the season. The 24-year-old Garand, from Victoria, B.C., got the start after being placed on waivers before the season and going unclaimed. He is now the presumptive starter for New York, which has won five of seven games this season and four straight at home to start the year. Spencer Martin dressed as Garand's backup.
With his assist on Lafreniere's power-play goal, Zibanejad became the third player in Rangers history with 250 power-play points, joining Brian Leetch (514) and Rod Gilbert (323). Vancouver fell to 2-5-0 under new coach Manny Malhotra after a 4-1 loss at New Jersey on Saturday. The Canucks visit the New York Islanders on Tuesday, while the Rangers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.