NEW YORK _ Less than 24 hours after Lias Andersson requested a trade, two other young forwards helped the Rangers snap a three-game winless streak.
Filip Chytil and Brett Howden will always be linked with Andersson. All three were first-round picks _ Howden in 2016; Andersson and Chytil in 2017 _ and were touted as the next wave of Blueshirts' centers.
It's been a bumpy ride, for sure. And while the Andersson situation has gone from bad to worse, the Rangers can take solace in what was an encouraging performance from Chytil and Howden in Sunday's 5-1 win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks.
Both scored goals to set the tone in what was a dominant first period for the Rangers (17-14-4).
"It's really nice to get that goal, but I think just the way we (were) playing, everybody felt good about their game today," Howden said. "We had a good mindset going into the game and we played well for 60 full minutes."
Chytil struck first, receiving a pass from Brendan Lemieux near the blue line and using his speed to blow past the Anaheim defense and flick a backhander by Ducks goalie Ryan Miller.
It was his ninth goal in 26 games since the highly-skilled Chytil was recalled from AHL Hartford on Oct. 29.
"It was a sick move," Henrik Lundqvist said of Chytil. "He's skilled _ so skilled. I think this year, he's taken a big step as a player. He's just stronger on the puck, more confident and he's making a lot of good plays. But he can also just personally take it to the net and make a play like that, so he's grown into a big, big player for us."
About a minute and a half later, it was Howden's turn.
In his first game since being moved from center to right wing, the 21-year-old followed a rebound off a shot from Tony DeAngelo and put it home for his fourth goal of the year.
"Late change coming off and the play was going up, so I just tried to get up and join the rush," Howden said. "(Artemi Panarin) made a great play, obviously, and then Tony made a play towards the net. Luckily enough, the puck just came right to me and I had a wide-open net. I just tried to follow the play up."
Entering Sunday's game, Howden had just one point in his last 13 games and hadn't scored a goal since Nov. 20 _ a 15-game drought.
"I liked a lot of his game," Quinn said of Howden. "He played with a lot of energy and I thought, in all three zones, he did a lot of good things."
The Rangers kept rolling from there.
Chris Kreider stole a puck near center-ice and deked Miller for a backhand goal of his own to make it 3-0 before 10 minutes had elapsed.
Kreider continued his strong play of late and added his second of the game (10th of the season) in the second period on an assist from Mika Zibanejad.
"I know the results might not have been there recently _ at least for the last three _ but our process has been so much better," Kreider said. "It's not win one, play well, and then the next game kind of fall apart. I think we're building more of an identity as a group. We're doing a better job of getting pucks to the net."
The Rangers' fifth and final goal came in a shorthanded situation in the third period, with Zibanejad netting his 12th of the season.
Lundqvist made 19 saves and earned his first win since Nov. 27. The Rangers outshot the Ducks, 41-20.
"It was not a lot, but it's nice," Lundqvist said of his workload. "I haven't seen a lot of these games where there's a few moments where you have to come up with a couple of big saves, and that'll be enough. Most nights, it's more than that, so I'll take it. It's nice to just feel solid."
