Artemi Panarin recorded his third hat trick of the season to lead the visiting New York Rangers to a 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Panarin scored New York’s first two goals and capped the scoring with an empty-netter, becoming the fourth Ranger in the past 10 years to record a 40-goal season.
Adam Fox’s eventual game-winning goal came at 3:57 of the third period, just 40 seconds after Justin Brazeau had tied the score for Boston.
Fox and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves as New York (46-20-4, 96 points) won for the third time in its past four games.
Justin Brazeau had a goal and an assist while Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston (41-15-15, 97 points), which had won its previous three.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots.
Brazeau brought the Bruins even at 2-2 with his third goal in two games at 3:17 of the third, parking at the crease to bang in the rebound of a Brad Marchand shot.
The tie lasted all of 40 seconds before Erik Gustafsson sent a slap pass to Fox, who scored top shelf from the right circle.
Zibanejad’s empty-net goal from neutral ice clinched the New York win with 2:03 left.
Panarin added another in the final minute.
Quick made several high-quality stops to hold Boston’s lead to a 1-0 lead after one period in which it had a 14-9 shot advantage, but a tenacious effort led to the go-ahead goal at the 8:04 marker.
After Trent Frederic had multiple point-blank chances denied, DeBrusk slotted home a loose puck for the Bruins’ opening tally while Quick was sprawled out from making his previous stops.
The visitors first knotted the score at 7:58 of the middle frame. Boston forward Danton Heinen’s no-look pass turned the puck over to Panarin in the slot, where he fired a shot through Swayman’s legs.
Shortly after Swayman knocked away a Chris Kreider short-handed break, the Rangers took their first lead at 2-1 on a fortunate bounce with 34.7 seconds left in the second. Panarin’s attempt to feed Alex Wennberg deflected in off a diving DeBrusk’s arm.
–Field Level Media