New York Rangers at San Jose Sharks

Panarin, Fox each score 2 goals as Rangers top Sharks 6-1

Jonny Brodzinsky and Vincent Trocheck also scored for New York.

Cam Lund scored a power play goal for San Jose for his first career point, and Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev had 27 saves.

Panarin, who scored his team-leading 32nd and 33rd goals, got New York started scoring twice in less than two minutes in a first period in which the Rangers out-shot San Jose 14-5. His first goal broke a scoreless tie at 12:04 of the first and then next at 13:58 made it 2-0.

Takeaways Rangers: New York had lost eight of 11 (3-6-2) coming into the game, but moved into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Columbus and Montreal.

Sharks: Were seeking what would have been their first three-game winning streak since early December.

Key moment Fox’s goal at 4:48 of the second period made it a 3-0 game and gave New York some breathing room a day after the Rangers blew a two-goal lead in the third period of Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss to Anaheim.

Key stat The Rangers won 67.9% of the faceoffs in Saturday’s game. New York ranked third in the NHL in faceoff win percentage (53%) going into Saturday, and San Jose ranked No. 25 (48.2%)

Up next The Rangers play host to Minnesota on Wednesday, and the Sharks play the Kings in Los Angeles on Sunday.

NYR win series 2-0