VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and the New York Rangers blanked the Canucks 2-0 on Tuesday night in captain J.T. Miller's return to Vancouver.
Mika Zibanejad scored late
in the first period off a give-and-go with Will Cuylle, and Sam Carrick added an empty-net goal with 93 seconds left. Adam Fox had two assists.
It was Quick’s first shutout this season and the 64th of his career, tying Rangers great Henrik Lundqvist for 17th place in NHL history.
Thatcher Demko stopped 23 shots for the Canucks (5-6-0), who struggled to generate offense.
Miller played his first game in Vancouver since being traded back to New York, where he began his career, by the Canucks at the end of January.
Players on both benches joined the crowd at Rogers Arena in a standing ovation after Miller’s tribute video was shown on the big screen midway through the first period.
Quick made a flurry of saves just over six minutes into the third, including denying Elias Pettersson from the top of the crease.
The win snapped a three-game skid for New York (4-5-2), which entered with just one victory over its last seven games (1-4-2). The Rangers were outscored 22-12 during that stretch.
Winless at home, the Rangers improved to 4-1-1 on the road and 4-0-1 in their last five trips to Vancouver.
Canucks forward Conor Garland did not return for the third period after getting leveled by Carrick at the end of the first.
Vancouver was already missing several players due to injury, including captain Quinn Hughes. The star defenseman missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
Canucks coach Adam Foote said Hughes is day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Wednesday.
Rangers: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Canucks: Start a three-game trip at St. Louis on Thursday.
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