Rangers win fifth straight, beating Coyotes, 4-1, behind Antti Raanta

In the past few years, the Rangers' Derick Brassard said Saturday night, goaltending has been "our bread and butter." Against the Coyotes, it was backup Antti Raanta's turn to use the good silverware.

Subbing for Henrik Lundqvist, Raanta won his third straight game, making 39 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes. He lost a bid for his second shutout on Shane Doan's power-play goal with 4.6 seconds left.

Doan's goal came after Martin Hanzal's swipe of a rebound above the crossbar was declared no goal at 8:19 of the third period, and Raanta took the loss of his shutout in stride.

"The last time I won on the road was January 2014, so honestly, I didn't care about the shutout," said Raanta, who has allowed two goals in three games on 88 shots. "Of course, it's always a bonus. They got one high-stick goal and there was lots of luck today, so I think they deserved that [last] one."

Raanta is 16-0-3 at home in his career, but playing on the road -- where he was 6-9-2 -- didn't get him off his game. In his two previous starts -- a 4-0 shutout against San Jose on Oct. 19 and a 4-1 victory over Calgary on Oct. 25, both at the Garden -- he wasn't tested nearly as much as he was by the Coyotes.

Luck and poor goaltending by the Coyotes certainly played a part in the season-high fifth straight win for the Rangers (10-2-2), who swept their two-game western trip. With 22 points, they equaled their best 14-game start in franchise history (1971-72 and 1990-91).

Ahead 1-0 after the first period on Jesper Fast's re-direction of Dan Girardi's point shot, the Rangers cracked open the game with second-period goals by J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes.

Mike Smith, who faced only 17 shots, was pulled after Kreider's right-circle wrister trickled through his pads at 5:35 of the second period. Miller's swipe in close had slid under Smith at 2:07 of the period.

With 8:53 left in the second, Brad Richardson was sent off for a double-minor high stick to the mouth of Miller that left him bleeding. Hayes' fourth goal of the season, a low shot from the left side past Emerson Etem's screen at 13:26, ended any suspense, except the shutout bid, at Gila River Arena.

Raanta was fortunate on some early chances that might have changed the complexion of the game. On one, Girardi swept out a puck sliding toward the goal line after Raanta kicked away Anthony Duclair's snap shot and almost put it inside the far post. But Raanta shut down some scrambles for loose pucks and stopped shots through traffic.

"He played amazing," said Keith Yandle, who watched a tribute video and had an assist in his first game in Arizona after playing for the Coyotes for parts of nine seasons.

Lundqvist had shut down the Avalanche, 2-1, on Friday night in a much calmer game.

"There were lots of rebounds and split saves and lots of craziness, and a little bit of luck,'' Raanta said, "but that's what we practice, follow the rebounds."

Coach Alain Vigneault said before the game, "We need a goaltender who can give us around 20 games and we need a goaltender who can win us some games. Our scouts really thought there was some potential there, and [so does] Benny [goaltending coach Benoit Allaire] working with him, but the player still has to go on the ice and prove it. And there's no doubt that in the small sample size, he's been good."