Rangers nip Nashville, 4-3

Five-game losing streak or not, the Nashville Predators were heavy favorites to end their skid with the New York Rangers in town.

Instead, Jesper Fast returned to the Rangers lineup after an injury and kicked in two goals and an assist in a solid 4-3 win for the Blueshirts.

Mika Zibanejad assisted on all four goals for the Rangers.

Mika Zibanejad assisted on all four Rangers goals – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman

“It’s obviously nice to be able to contribute offensively,” Zibanejad said. “Having the role I have, I’m going against those top guys all the time. It’s fun, but I think the best way to keep them out of our zone is to keep the puck in theirs. The guys I’m playing with are doing an unbelievable job of holding on to pucks.”

Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves to get the win.

The Predators led 3-2 in the third period on two goals from Nick Bonino and a single marker from Kevin Fiala.

But the Preds eased up a bit and the Rangers took advantage of the space.

“We’ve just got to keep putting our foot down on the gas here,” Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. “Again, there was good things that we did tonight. I don’t like the fact that we had a lead going into the third period and we let it get away. That’s usually where we’re at our strongest.”

Chris Kreider scored his 20th of the season and Marc Staal also scored for New York.

“We were more competitive, we were more passionate, and obviously [Fast] gets rewarded statistically,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “As I said before the game, there’s a reason we put that line together. [Zibanejad] played his best hockey with [Fast and Kreider], and they were obviously our best line tonight and our most effective line tonight.”

The Rangers improved to 16-14-17.

“It was a lot of intensity, a lot of physical play early, and it kind of sustained throughout the rest of the game,” Staal said. “It was a hard-fought game by both teams. It’s nice to come out on top for sure.”

[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Predators highlights]

Pekka Rinne made 18 saves in the loss.

“Today the whole team played pretty good. Just tough goals we got against us in the third period. Now we look forward for the next game. We’ve got to win it,” Fiala said afterwards.