Buffalo Sabres vs New York Rangers Match Player Stats On Mar 22, 2021

Chris Kreider scored a pair of power-play goals, including the tiebreaking tally 5:47 into the third period Monday night, lifting the New York Rangers to a 5-3 victory over the NHL-worst Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres tied a team record with their 14th consecutive loss, falling to 0-12-2 in that span.

Kreider snapped a pair of ties with his team-leading 15th and 16th goals. He scored on a deflection midway through the second period and then got the game-winner by scoring on a rebound less than two minutes after the Rangers squandered a two-goal lead.

Kaapo Kakko scored New York's first goal and added an empty-net goal after going 19 games without scoring. Adam Fox collected a goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin contributed three assists and Keith Kinkaid made 16 saves as the Rangers improved to 4-1-1 in their past six games.

Rasmus Asplund, Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo, which last won on Feb. 23, a 4-1 victory at New Jersey. The Sabres matched the team record for the longest losing streak set between Dec. 29, 2014-Jan. 30, 2015.

Buffalo also lost goaltender Carter Hutton to a left leg injury less than three minutes in after New York's Julien Gauthier collided with him. His sub, Dustin Tokarski, stopped 33 shots in his first NHL appearance since Oct. 28, 2016, with the Anaheim Ducks.

Buffalo took the first five shots of the second period and scored the game's first goal at 3:52. Asplund stood at the left side of the crease and banked the puck off Kinkaid's right pad for his third career goal.

Kakko tied it 3 1/2 minutes later by lifting a backhander over Tokarski from the high slot after getting a slick pass from Panarin.

Kreider scored his first goal by crashing the net and redirecting a pass from Panarin during the waning seconds of a five-on-three with 9:21 remaining in the middle period. The Rangers went up 3-1 on Fox's tap-in into an open net with 1:42 remaining before the second intermission.

Buffalo tied it in the opening 4:22 of the third.

Cozens lifted a wrist shot by Kinkaid 69 seconds in to make it 3-2, and Skinner finished off a breakaway for his third goal of the season.

The deadlock lasted less than two minutes when Kreider pounced on a rebound and batted it into the net after Tokarski lost sight of the puck.

--Field Level Media