New York Rangers Beat St. Louis for Seventh Straight Win

The New York Rangers, the leaders in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division hosted the St. Louis Blues, second in the Central Division, on November 12th. Much has been made about the Montreal Canadiens’ fast start this season, but the Rangers have essentially been just as good. New York entered the contest with a six game winning streak and a record of 11-2-2 (24 points).

Despite being outshot 26-15 through the first two periods, and 34-22 overall, the Rangers beat St. Louis 6-3. Blues’ goalie Jake Allen has played very well this season, but did not have it on this night, allowing three Ranger goals and making just two saves before he was replaced by Brian Elliot at 14:38 of the first period. That helped for a while—St. Louis closed the gap and trailed 4-3 at the end of the 2nd period—but the Rangers pulled away with two goals in third period.

It was the seventh straight win for the Rangers; they’ve also won nine of 10 with the only loss being in overtime. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist (9-2-2, 1.76 goals against average, .946 save percentage) had 31 saves for the Rangers. The second place Washington Capitals beat Philadelphia to keep pace with New York, remaining four points back.