WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ Kevin Hayes scored on the power play with 1:09 left in the third period to give the Rangers a 2-1 win over the Jets on Thursday night. Ryan McDonagh sent a wrist shot toward the goal from the blue line, and Hayes netted the rebound for his 11th goal.
J.T. Miller also picked up an assist on the winning goal as the Rangers' power-play went 2-for-4. Chris Kreider's seventh opened the scoring with a power-play goal assisted by Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello 8:02 into the first period.
The Rangers have been lights out after each of their regulation losses this season, and they continued the trend with a win after losing to the Islanders on Tuesday night. The Rangers are 9-0-1 after a loss this season.
Antti Raanta made 17 saves to improve to 6-1-0 in his eighth start this season.
The Blueshirts came out flying in the first, controlling the pace and taking advantage of their speed while outskating the fast Jets and creating a few breakaways and odd-man rushes.
With Jets leading scorer Mark Scheifele off for interference, Kreider tallied his third goal in his last four games by completing a tic-tac-toe passing play that began with Zuccarello and finished with Stepan sliding a cross-ice feed to Kreider, who was all alone in front.
The Rangers took advantage of the Jets' 24th-ranked penalty kill. Kreider's goal extended his point-scoring streak to four games, tying a career high.
The Jets and Rangers exchanged dangerous chances in the second period. The third puck off the post in the period came less than eight minutes in. After Winnipeg's Dustin Byfuglien and the Rangers' Dan Girardi each rang iron, the Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers broke in all alone and wristed a shot off the post over Raanta's left shoulder.
Midway through the second, after an extended stretch of sustained pressure in the Rangers' zone, Scheifele added to his team-leading point total with his 14th goal of the season. Scheifele tapped in a rebound in the crease from a Paul Postma point blast. Byfuglien's assist extended his point streak to six games.
The Rangers visit Chicago on Friday night to face the Blackhawks (17-8-3). The Blueshirts then return home against the Devils (Sunday) and Blackhawks.
