Artemi Panarin collects five points as surging Rangers race past reeli…
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Artemi Panarin isn’t ready to consider if this is the finest season of his nine-year career.
It looks as if he is going to answer the question on the ice anyway. By the time he gets to game No. 82, there could be no doubt.
Panarin had two goals and three assists, helping the New York Rangers zoom past the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 7-4 victory on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Panarin upped his total to 500 career assists. He has 93 points this season, becoming the first player in the franchise’s 97-year history to reach at least 90 points for three straight years. The Russian star’s first 100-point season is well within reach with 15 games remaining.
“No. I don’t think about (if this is my best season), or I don’t try,” Panarin said. “Maybe I think about it after the season, about those things. Never in the season.”
Chris Kreider had a goal and two assists in his 800th career game. K’Andre Miller also had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who have won four of five to create a sliver of space between themselves and Carolina in the race for first in the Metropolitan Division.
“We knew (the Penguins) were going to come out and have a push,” Miller said. “Obviously, they’re still fighting for a playoff spot. So they came out strong. I thought we did a good job of responding.”
Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko also scored for New York. Jonathan Quick made 34 saves to win for the sixth time in his last seven starts.
“This is stuff we’ve been doing all year, right?” Quick said. “This is nothing new that we did today that we haven’t been doing. These guys, they battle hard.”
Bryan Rust scored his 20th goal of the season for the Penguins. John Ludvig, Lars Eller and Valtteri Puustinen also scored.
Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots before he was pulled after Miller’s eighth goal of the season gave the Rangers a 6-3 lead 4:41 into the third period.
The Penguins have dropped eight of 10. They are in danger of missing the playoffs…
