VANCOUVER — Mats Zuccarello scored twice and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves Saturday as the New York Rangers steamrolled the Vancouver Canucks 5-1.
Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller and Marc Staal had the other goals for New York (13-10-4), which jumped on some horrendous Vancouver defending early and never looked back.
Rick Nash and Derick Brassard each had two assists for the Rangers, who had lost two of their last three before Saturday.
Nick Bonino had the only goal for Vancouver (18-10-2), while Ryan Miller made 18 stops in taking the ugly loss.
The Canucks were playing at home for the first time since Nov. 25 after wrapping up a season-long seven-game road trip that saw them go a respectable 3-3-1, but finish with consecutive defeats in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Head coach Willie Desjardins said his team looked sluggish during Friday's practice, and that trend carried over into Saturday's first period against the Rangers, who had four odd-man rushes in just over four minutes to break the game wide open.
After a bad pinch from defenceman Ryan Stanton, Jesper Fast fed McDonagh on a 3-on-1 break for his first of the season at 2:36 to make it 1-0.
The Rangers then somehow broke in on a 4-on-1 rush shortly after that failed to connect before J.T. Miller buried his third of the season on a 2-on-1 break with a nice move to the backhand at 3:19.
Ryan Miller got a Bronx cheer from the fans at Rogers Arena in the Canucks' goal after collecting an easy dump in moments later, but Zuccarello made it 3-0 soon after on another 3-on-1, ripping home his fifth of the campaign as New York scored on three straight shots.
Staal made it 4-1 at 7:17 of the second when his first of the season found its way through a screen past Ryan Miller, who looked especially frustrated and shrugged his shoulders as the Rangers celebrated at Vancouver's blue-line.
New York's Martin St. Louis was then awarded a penalty shot just over five minutes later after getting hooked on a breakaway, but Ryan Miller did well to stay with the deke and make a blocker save.
Vancouver's first real chance of the night came a few minutes later as Lundqvist stopped Brad Richardson from in close off a scramble.
But any good feeling from that sequence didn't last long as Zuccarello scored his second of the night and sixth of the season with 2:21 left in the period by tapping home a slick pass from Brassard.
Vancouver finally got on the board when Bonino broke Lundqvist's shutout bid at 4:20 of the third, wiring a shot over the glove for his eighth of the season and first in 16 games.
The Canucks showed some more life after that, but it was far too late to influence an outcome that was pretty much decided before the game was seven minutes old.
Notes: Bonino's goal was his first point in seven games. ... Saturday marked the Rangers' first game outside of the Eastern time zone since the season opener against St. Louis. ... Canucks forward Derek Dorsett suited up for Vancouver after missing Friday's practice to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Dorsett was acquired in an off-season trade with the Rangers. ... The Canucks continue their four-game homestand Wednesday against the Dallas Stars. The Rangers visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
