Rangers Double Up Colorado 6-3

David Zalubowski/AP

The New York Rangers once again opened the scoring as Dan Boyle converted a pass from Kevin Hayes into his eighth goal of the season. This was the second game in a row, that Boyle opened the scoring for the Blueshirts and is proving why his free agent signing was a very good idea by Glen Sather.

Later on, Kevin Hayes took control of the puck and skated up ice. He turned on the jets, swept past an Avalanche player and bore in on Semyon Varlamov in the Colorado net. He cut in front and scored his ninth goal of the season. This unassisted rush up the ice is something that we have seen Chris Kreider and Rick Nash do this season. If Hayes can realize all the potential he has, the Rangers will be blessed with three power forwards who can finish the season with 20-30 or more goals.

The Avalanche cut the lead to 2-1, but Mats Zuccarello took a Rick Nash feed and blasted it into an almost wife open net to make the score New York 3 and Colorado 1. But alas, it was going to resemble the Toronto game and the Rangers found themselves in a fight to the finish. The Avalanche scored two consecutive goals to tie it at 3-3. Jarome Iginla and Jan Hejda were the culprits and the Avalanche were now flying.

But this Ranger team does not fold so easily, and they can show more intestinal fortitude that any team in the league. They just dug down deeper and were able to reel off three straight goals, to close out Colorado and the game 6-3.

Carl Hagelin started the onslaught, then Rick Nash scored another “Monster Nash” goal, as he fought off an Avalanche player turned towards the goal and muscled one past Varlamov for his 34^th goal of the season. Ryan McDonagh, the young Ranger captain scored the last one on the power play as he intercepted a clearing pass and rocketed one into an empty net.

Scoring:

NYR: Dan Boyle (8), Assisted by Kevin Hayes & Ryan McDonagh

NYR: Kevin Hayes (9), Unassisted

COL: Gabriel Landeskog (11), Assisted by John Mitchell & Nathan MacKinnon

NYR: Mats Zuccarello (11), Assisted by Rick Nash & Derick Brassard

COL: Jarome Iginla (17), Assisted by Maxime Talbot

COL: Jan Hejda (1), Assisted by Jarome Iginla & Matt Duchene

NYR: Carl Hagelin (12), Assisted by Kevin Hayes & Kevin Klein

NYR: Rick Nash (34), Assisted by J.T. Miller

Ryan McDonagh (5) PPG-ENG, Unassisted

Team Stats                              NYR                              COL

Shots on Goal                         31                                  29

Hits                                         23                                  13

Giveaways                              2                                    8

Takeaways                             10                                  14

Face Off Wins                        29                                  37

Goalie Stats:

Semyon Varlamov: 25 Saves on 30 Shots for a SV% of .833

Cam Talbot: 26 Saves on 29 Shots for a SV% of .897

3 Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Jarome Iginla: 1 Assist and 1 Goal

2^nd Star: Rick Nash: 1 Assist and 1 Goal

1^st Star: Kevin Hayes: 2 Assists and 1 Goal

Broadway Bits:

The Broadway Blueshirts have now won 25 out of their last 35 games (25-9-1)

This was the Rangers 15^th road win of the season. They have won 98 road games since the start of the 2010-11 season

The Rangers have scored the first goal in 33 of 53 games this season and have a 26-5-2 record in those games

They are also 19-1-2 when leading after the first period

They are also 24-0-1 this season when leading after two periods this season

Kevin Hayes registered his first multi-point game of his career with a goal and two assists. He also posted a plus 4 rating and recorded three shots on goal in 13:02 of ice time

Rick Nash had one goal and one assist, three shots on goal and a plus 3 rating in 18:36 of ice time

Mats Zuccarello had a goal and posted a plus 2 rating in 18:01 of ice time

Alain Vigneault recorded his 499^th victory, which tied him for 21^st place with Terry Murphy

Carl Hagelin scored a goal, had three shots on goal and posted a plus 2 rating in 15:48 of ice time

Dan Boyle scored the opening goal in two consecutive games and had a plus 4 rating in 14:57 of ice time

Ryan McDonagh had a goal, an assist, two takeaways and two shots on goal in 24:01 of ice time

Derick Brassard had an assist, four shots on goal, and won 10 face offs (10 for 17 for 58.8%) in 18:49 of ice time

Kevin Klein dished out an assist for his 21^st point of the season in 21:48 of ice time

J.T. Miller recorded an assist and a plus 3 rating. The Rangers have a record of 8-1-0 when Miller has posted a point this season.