Alexis Lafreniere scored the tiebreaking goal on a redirection 5:38 into the third period Thursday night and the host New York Rangers pulled away for a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Rangers snapped a 2-2 tie when Lafreniere cut through the slot and parked himself in front of goalie Joseph Woll. As Mika Zibanejad released a shot from the middle of the zone near the blue line, the puck sailed by Toronto defensemen Jake McCabe and Troy Stecher but Lafreniere lifted his stick and put the redirection by Woll.
Will Cuylle scored in the first period before capping things with an empty-net tally with 2:51 left, and Vladislav Gavrikov netted the second tying goal during a power play in the second period.
The Rangers took a 5-2 lead by scoring twice in 52 seconds, when rookie Jaroslav Chmelar scored his first career goal on a partial breakaway and Zibanejad scored into an open net.
Zibanejad also added a pair of assists as the Rangers scored six goals for the seventh time this season. The big third period gave the Rangers their third regulation win on home ice this season and first since Nov. 24 against the St. Louis Blues.
Matias Maccelli scored 13 seconds into the contest and rookie Easton Cowan scored in the second before the Maple Leafs allowed five straight goals and matched a season worst with their sixth straight loss.
New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made four of his 29 saves on Auston Matthews. Woll allowed five goals on 24 shots.
With Friday’s trade deadline looming, both teams held out players for roster management purposes. The Rangers sat Vincent Trocheck and Sam Carrick while the Maple Leafs sat Scott Laughton, Bobby McMann and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the second straight game.
Toronto took the early lead when Maccelli was left alone in front of the net and lifted a one-timer over Shesterkin’s pad.
The Rangers evened things 6:45 into the contest when Cuylle parked himself in front of Woll and stuck his stick out in time for the redirection of Braden Schneider’s shot from the right point.
Toronto regained the lead 5:27 into the second period when Cowan was left open in the left circle, took a pass from Matthew Knies and lifted a shot over Shesterkin. New York tied it about two minutes later when Gavrikov put a rebound into the open net.
