German_Force » a puck behind the net to Guentzel, who

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Dave Hakstol is more worried about two points than a pretty performance right now. That said Greg Joseph Jersey Elite , the Philadelphia Flyers coach and his team have some work to do before the playoffs begin.Travis Konecny scored twice, Claude Giroux had three assists and Philadelphia beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night to pick up an important two points and stay atop the wild-card standings in the Eastern Conference.Jakub Voracek had a goal and an assist and Oskar Lindblom also scored for the Flyers (38-25-12, 88 points), who won for just the fourth time in 12 games to remain within one point of streaking Columbus for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets beat Florida 4-0 on Thursday for their 10th straight victory.Philadelphia is six points in front of New Jersey, which was idle Thursday and owns the second wild-card spot. Florida is seven points back of the Flyers but has three more games remaining than Philadelphia, which has seven contests left.”We were just sporadic,” Hakstol said. ”There are things we have to clean up and do a little bit better, but the bottom line is the two points at the end of the night.”Jesper Fast had two goals and an assist and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who are playing out the string after being active sellers at the trading deadline.”I thought there was a lot of fight and compete in our team tonight,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.With the Flyers’ top two goalies sidelined by injury http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/greg-joseph-jersey , and Petr Mrazek, who Philadelphia acquired to fill in, ineffective of late, Hakstol went with little-used rookie Alex Lyon. In his 10th career game, Lyon made 33 saves to improve to 4-2-1.”He doesn’t quit on shots,” Giroux said. ”He’s very solid.”Lindblom scored eight seconds into the third period to give Philadelphia a 4-2 advantage. Nolan Patrick took the initial shot, and the rebound fell in front to the rookie Lindblom, who backhanded in his second goal.”We did a good job of grinding it out,” Giroux said.Fast scored a similar goal for the Rangers, backhanding a rebound of Rob O’Gara’s shot 1:14 later to make it 4-3. It was the second goal of the game for Fast Authentic Greg Joseph Jersey , who extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, six assists).Lyon’s best save came with 13 1/2 minutes remaining when he robbed Chris Kreider with a lunging stop with his right shoulder. He also made an excellent save with 12 minutes left in the second period on Zibanejad’s 2-on-1 chance.”Saves like that are big,” Hakstol said.Rangers rookie Alexandar Georgiev started in goal in place of Henrik Lundqvist (neck/back), who was injured with five minutes left in Monday’s 5-3 loss to Columbus. Georgiev made 32 saves.Voraeck muscled through three Rangers to break a 1-all tie 3:46 into the second period, shooting high over Georgiev’s glove.Konecny scored his second of the night on a deflection of Radko Gudas‘ shot from the point with 11:22 left in the second to put the Flyers up 3-1.But the Flyers’ second-year forward found himself on the bench for the last 7:20 of the contest because Hakstol didn’t like the way Konecny was protecting the puck.”Individuals have to be better in how we manage the puck,” Hakstol said.Fast pulled the Rangers within a goal with 2:57 remaining in the period when he sent the puck toward the net from the corner and it deflected off defenseman Ivan Provorov and past Lyon’s left pad.Konecny netted his 21st of the season, a wrist shot from the slot past Georgiev’s glove side, to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead 7:56 into the contest.Zibanejad continued his recent hot streak and tied the game at 1 with 6:07 left in the first when he got in alone on Lyon and beat him through the five-hole to extend his point streak to six games (7 goals, 3 assists).NOTES: Injured Flyers goalies Michal Neuvirth (lower body) and Brian Elliott (core muscle surgery) did drills during Thursday’s morning skate. Neuvirth is aiming to return during the Flyers’ upcoming three-game road trip while Elliott is about two weeks from returning. … Provorov played in his 157th straight game to start his career, breaking the club record for most consecutive contests by a Flyers newcomer. … The teams wrap up the season series in the regular-season finale for both on April 7 in Philadelphia. The Flyers lead the series 2-1.UP NEXTRangers: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.Flyers: Start three-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.— PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Rust has no explanation for his career-best scoring run. He just wants to keep playing the same way.Rust scored two more goals to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Thursday night.“Sometimes that’s how hockey goes Myles Garrett Jersey Elite ,” Rust said. “It just wants to make me shoot the puck more, I guess.”Rust has at least one goal in five of his last six games, including the game-winner in Wednesday night’s 2-1 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on the road.He has eight goals and nine points in his last six games after collecting one goal and seven points in his first 29 games.“It’s going in for him and we’re thrilled for him,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think he’s confident now and I think he has a little bit of pressure off of him. It’s not like he wasn’t getting scoring chances in the first part of the season. He was. The puck just didn’t seem to go in the net for him and now it is.”Rust put Pittsburgh ahead to stay when he scored his ninth of the season 8:12 into the third period.Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel picked off a Greg Pateryn pass behind the net, and centered to the slot where Rust slipped a shot between Devan Dubnyk’s pads.Pittsburgh has won four of five games and seven of 10 overall. The Penguins have earned points in eight of their last 10 games and 13 of the last 17 following a difficult November run in which they won just one of 10 games.“It’s nice to string a few wins in a row against some pretty good teams,” Sullivan said. “Every point we get in the standings is important and we’re slowly but surely climbing. We’re becoming harder to play against.”Casey DeSmith stopped 40 shots for his eighth win in 12 home starts. DeSmith has started nine of the last 11 games for Pittsburgh.Jordan Greenway scored his sixth for the Wild, who have dropped three straight and five of seven. Dubnyk made 35 saves.“It’s disappointing,” Dubnyk said. “We were in a really good spot going into the third period, and playing good hockey. So you want to find a way to win those games.”Greenway opened the scoring 7:13 into the first when he converted a wrist shot from inside the left circle. But Rust answered for Pittsburgh, extending his goal streak to a career-best four games.Dubnyk left his crease Authentic Myles Garrett Jersey , but misplayed a puck behind the net to Guentzel, who quickly centered to Rust for the goal into an empty net.“The first one, it doesn’t get much easier than that, and the second one, I came screaming down the middle and (Guentzel) found me,” Rust said.NOTES: Dominik Simon returned to the Penguins’ lineup after missing eight games with a lower-body injury. Garrett Wilson was sent to the team’s minor league affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. … Wild D Matt Dumba missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. … Penguins D Jamie Oleksiak was sidelined by a concussion. … Pateryn played in his 200th career game.UP NEXTWild: Host Dallas on Saturday.Penguins: Visit Carolina on Saturday.