Rangers pull away in third period to beat Bruins, 5-2

BOSTON (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Friday afternoon, giving Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as coach in team history.

The Rangers have 31 points in Gallant’s first 20. Phil Esposito held the previous mark with 30 in 1986-87.

Ryan Strome, Dryden Hunt, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba also scored for the Rangers, who won their third straight game and seventh of eight.

Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves and Julien Gauthier set up two goals. Trouba’s was an empty-netter.

Craig Smith and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal for Boston, which has lost consecutive home games after opening 6-1. Jeremy Swayman stopped 31 shots.

Panarin batted home a pass from Gauthier from the edge of the crease for the Rangers’ first lead of the game. Lafreniere scored with 3:38 to play on Gauthier’s wing-to-wing pass during a 2-on-1 break.

The Bruins had taken a 2-1 lead in the second when Bergeron, just outside the crease, redirected Matt Grzelcyk’s perfectly centered touch pass from the left circle into the net.

But New York tied it when Hunt scored off the rebound of Ryan Lindgren’s shot from the point.

Smith had pushed Boston in front 14:46 into the game when he stole an attempted clearing pass from defenseman Trouba and slipped a wrister past Shesterkin.

Shesterkin kept it a one-goal deficit with a nice left-pad stop on Taylor Hall’s clean breakaway with about 90 seconds left in the period before Strome tied it 1-1 with 6 seconds remaining. Strome, positioned in the slot, collected Panarin’s pass from the left circle and slipped a shot past Swayman’s glove.

Boston dominated much of the play in the opening period, outshooting the Rangers, 17-5.

WHAT A STOP

Seconds after the Rangers tied it at 2, Swayman came diving across the crease to make a fully out-stretched stick save on Mika Zibanejad,…