Rangers, Coyotes Pick Up NHL Victories

By ESPN

Antti Raanta hadn't made a start in more than six weeks, due an injury and the reliable play of starter Henrik Lundqvist. Raanta had to be on his game Monday night as the Columbus Blue Jackets outshot the New York Rangers.

Raanta stopped 30 shots -- including some key saves in the final minute after the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie for a sixth skater and were swarming -- to lead the Rangers to a 3-2 win.

"When (Lundqvist) is playing at that level, it's tough to get games, but it was really fun to get (in) there and just play," said Raanta, who was making just his third appearance since Dec. 29. "It's been a long time when I played, and I just wanted to get that good feeling going again."

Jimmy Vesey scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Dan Girardi and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Rangers, who won their sixth straight game and moved into a three-way tie for second place with Columbus and Pittsburgh in the tough Metropolitan Division.

New York was 0 for 5 on the power play, and Columbus was 0 for 4.

"We did what we have to do here," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We found a way to win, and we had a few of their guys maybe not having their top game. And usually that's the sign of a good team when you can win a game when you're not really at your best as far as execution. It's not a bad sign."

Brandon Dubinsky and Nick Foligno scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 20 saves.

Coyotes 5, Flames 0

Christian Dvorak has clearly shaken off the rookie jitters.

Dvorak had two goals and an assist and Mike Smith made 36 saves for his 32nd career shutout as the surging Arizona Coyotes beat the Calgary Flames 5-0 on Monday night.

Dvorak's third multi-point effort in the last five games gave the rookie seven points (five goals and two assists) over that span. He had just 13 points in the first 45 games.

"The first 20 or 30 games, he's just happy to be in the league," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "He recognizes that he's capable of playing here and he's doing things right and he's not in awe of people anymore. He just goes out there and plays and he's a really good player."

Dvorak, who was linemates with Toronto's Mitch Marner and Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk last season on the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights, agreed.

"I'm definitely feeling more comfortable and more confident as the season has gone on," Dvorak said. "Gelling with my linemates, forming some chemistry and we've been playing pretty well as of late."

Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and Justin Martinook also scored for the Coyotes, who have points in four straight (3-0-1) and are 6-2-1 in their last nine.

Chad Johnson had 19 saves through two periods and was replaced by Brian Elliott to start the third with the Flames trailing 4-0. Elliott stopped eight of the nine shots he faced.

Monday, February 13 Scoreboard

New York Rangers 3, Columbus 2

Arizona 5, Calgary 0

Tuesday, February 14 Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at New Jersey, 6 p.m.

Vancouver at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

New York Islanders at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Buffalo at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.

Anaheim at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.

Arizona at Edmonton, 8 p.m.