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National Hockey League
NY Rangers 5, Anaheim 1
When: 12:30 PM ET, Sunday, December 22, 2019
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Referees: Jean Hebert, Frederic L'Ecuyer
Linesmen: Tyson Baker, Kory Nagy
Attendance: 17465

Henrik Lundqvist won a battle of former Vezina Trophy winners, Chris Kreider scored twice and the New York Rangers skated to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon.

The 2012 Vezina winner as the NHL's top goaltender, Lundqvist notched his 457th career win by stopping 19 of 20 shots as the Ducks generated very little pressure on the Swedish netminder.

The Ducks' Ryan Miller, who won the Vezina in 2010 while playing with Buffalo, stopped 36 shots and slid to 15-9-6 all-time against the Rangers.

Kreider scored in each of the first two periods to bring his goal total to 10, and Filip Chytil and Brett Howden also scored for New York, which split the season series with Anaheim.

Mika Zibanejad tied for the NHL lead by recording his third short-handed goal and added an assist, giving him five goals and four helpers in a five-game point streak.

Artemi Panarin grabbed an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (seven goals, four assists) and has points in 23 of his last 27 games.

The Rangers were playing the first of back-to-back contests. They face the Flyers in Philadelphia on Monday before their three-day holiday break.

Sam Steel produced a goal for Anaheim, which ended its four-game road swing through the Tri-State area with a 1-3-0 mark.

Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson played in his 500th game but captain Ryan Getzlaf (flu) missed his second straight match.

Two minutes after Lundqvist stopped Nicolas Deslauriers on a breakaway, Chytil went wide to the right and lifted in a backhander into the short side for his ninth goal at 7:14 of the first period.

Playing right wing in place of rookie Kaapo Kakko (lower body), Howden tallied his fourth on a rebound at 8:45, but Steel made it 2-1 when he batted in a rebound off Lundqvist 1:13 later.

Kreider then stole the puck at the Ducks' blue line, dashed in on Miller, cut across the slot and backhanded home a shot while the clubs were skating four-on-four, making it 3-1 with 7:44 to play in the first.

Miller kept Anaheim's disadvantage to two goals with a strong kick save on Greg McKegg in front of an open net with eight minutes left in the second, but Kreider chipped in his second off Zibanejad's dish for a 4-1 lead with 3:51 to go in the frame.

Zibanejad scored on the penalty kill 76 seconds into the third for the final margin.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Anaheim   NY Rangers
Sam Steel 1 Points Chris Kreider 2
Sam Steel 1 Goals Chris Kreider 2
Ondrej Kase 1 Assists Mika Zibanejad 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Mika Zibanejad 1
Ryan Miller .878 Save Percentage Henrik Lundqvist .950
Ryan Miller 36 Saves Henrik Lundqvist 19
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Anaheim 20 1 0-4 5-5 31 28
NY Rangers 41 5 0-5 4-4 29 33
Upcoming Games
  • NY Rangers will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Rangers have a W/L % of .312 after a win and .632 after a loss.
  • Anaheim will play their next game at home against Vegas. The Ducks have a W/L % of .312 after a win and .476 after a loss.