Nash lifts Rangers over Panthers

NEW YORK — Left-winger Rick Nash scored his first goal since Dec. 30 and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots as the New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 4-2 at Madison Square Garden Monday night. Nash missed nearly two months with a bone bruise in his leg and hadn’t registered a point in five games since rejoining the team. “Anytime the puck goes in, you exhale,” Nash said with a slight smile. “It’s nice to help the team by scoring, but I’m just really concentrating on finding my game right now and finding some consistency.” Two days after the Rangers were pelted with 52 shots in a loss to the San Jose Sharks that felt like “garbage,” as defenseman Marc Staal described it, they rebounded to post their 13th straight victory after a regulation loss, the longest such streak within one season in franchise history. Flyers 4, Islanders 1: Defenseman Brandon Manning scored his first NHL goal — a tiebreaking tally late in the second period Monday — and the Philadelphia Flyers continued to tighten the Eastern Conference wild-card race with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at Barclays Center. Manning’s goal came in his 66th career game. Maple Leafs 5, Flames 2: William Nylander’s first career three-point game helped the Toronto Maple Leafs post a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames at Air Canada Centre. Nylander scored the eventual winner 29 seconds into the third period, one-timing a Jake Gardiner feed top corner on Jonas Hiller for his fourth of the season. The 19-year-old rookie has five points in his last two games. Predators 5, Kings 2: A second-period outburst was enough for the Nashville Predators to hold off the Los Angeles Kings and earn two points in a preview of a potential first-round Western Conference playoff matchup. Center Ryan Johansen collected three points, including a critical goal that blunted Los Angeles’ third-period rally, as Nashville bagged a 5-2 verdict Monday night at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.