Gabe Perreault scored the tiebreaking goal 3:15 into the third period and the New York Rangers earned a 4-2 victory over the visiting Utah Mammoth on Sunday night.
The Rangers had a 2-on-1 following a turnover near the neutral zone when Mika Zibanejad carried the puck into the offensive zone and made a cross-ice feed to Alexis Lafreniere.
Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka made a pad save on Lafreniere but did not control the rebound. Perreault pounced on the loose puck between the circles. Before Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt could cover, Perreault’s shot sailed into the vacated middle of the net for a 2-1 lead.
Vladislav Gavrikov had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who won their third straight to improve to 3-1-0.
After Vejmelka stopped breakaway tries by Eeli Tolvanen and Lafreniere earlier in the first period, the Rangers pressured Utah and broke through with 2:42 remaining. Anders Lee lost the puck along the boards to Adam Fox, and Gavrikov lifted a shot from the point past Vejmelka as Pavel Dorofeyev set a screen in the slot.
Gavrikov added an assist when his pass from the slot banked off J.T. Miller’s skate and into the net to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead with 7:13 remaining in the third.
Nick Schmaltz scored Utah’s sixth power-play goal through its first three games with 5:31 left in the second.
Andrew Peeke scored a little over two minutes after Miller to pull Utah to within 3-2. Clayton Keller had an assist for Utah (2-1-0), extending his streak to 13 regular-season games.
New York’s Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves and got the secondary assist on Tolvanen’s empty-net goal with 1:15 remaining.
Vejmelka stopped 18 shots for the Mammoth, who lost for the first time in three visits to Madison Square Garden.
