NEW YORK (AP) The Minnesota Wild have been thriving lately

NEW YORK (AP) The Minnesota Wild have been thriving lately on the road to keep pace in the Central Division. After smothering the Rangers 4-1 Youth Matthew Tkachuk Jersey , they completed a three-game sweep in the New York area.Mikael Granlund and Eric Staal each scored twice and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves in the Wild’s victory over the free-falling New York Rangers on Friday night. The Wild also beat the Islanders on Monday night and New Jersey on Thursday night.”Well, it obviously means getting six points, but we have never done that before,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”Anytime you do something you haven’t done before, it’s pretty cool.”The Rangers lost for the sixth straight time in regulation. New York is 6-17-0 since beating Buffalo in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1.”In my mind, we worked hard. We just weren’t able to make the plays that we needed to make to get something out of that,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.Granlund opened the scoring for Minnesota at 16:06 of the first period after Staal intercepted a terrible breakout pass attempt by Rangers defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. Staal passed to Granlund, who easily put the puck past rookie netminder Alexandar Georgiev.Georgiev played his second NHL game after making his debut Thursday night in a 3-1 loss at Montreal.Staal made it 2-0 at 18:43. The goal was originally credited to Granlund but was changed to Staal late in the third period.The Rangers narrowed the deficit to 2-1 when Jesper Fast scored his ninth of the season at 2:41 of the second.Staal made it 3-1 for the visitors 52 seconds into the third period with a power-play goal – his team-leading 29th – of the season. Defenseman Ryan Suter and Granlund had assists.Eric Staal had a short stint with the Rangers two seasons ago, joining his brother Marc in New York but only recording only three goals in 20 games and none in the playoffs.”There’s always motivation every night Michael Frolik Jersey ,” Eric Staal said. ”You always want to prove yourself. Tonight was one of those nights we caught them with some great plays and we were fortunate to be able to capitalize.”Granlund, made it 4-1 at 9:22 of the third with his 17th goal of the season.”Obviously, it’s always nice to score,” said the 25-year-old Finnish forward who was drafted ninth overall by the Wild in 2010. ”It’s nice to get some offense going.”Minnesota is 6-1-2 in its last eight games. The Wild are in playoff position in a tight Central Division race.Rangers forward Rick Nash didn’t dress for the second straight game. The 33-year-old Nash, whose contract expires after this season, is expected to be traded by Monday’s deadline.He has 18 goals and 10 assists this season and is one point shy of 800 for his career. Nash scored against the Flyers in last Sunday’s 7-4 home loss. He was also a healthy scratch for Thursday’s loss at Montreal.The Rangers traded forward Michael Grabner – their leading goal scorer – to the Devils late Thursday after sending defenseman Nick Holden to the Boston Bruins earlier in the week.The Rangers are facing late-season games without playoff-race meaning for the first time since 2004 when they also made numerous deadline trades. They have only missed the playoffs once since 2005-06, in 2010 when the Rangers missed out on the last day of the season in a shootout loss at Philadephia.”We’re in a results-oriented business,” Vigneault added. ”The effort and preparation is there. We just have to stay with it.”NOTES: Forward Chris Kreider returned for the Rangers after missing 24 games with blood clot in right arm. Kreider last played Dec. 27 against Washington. … The Wild are 4-7-0 at Madison Square Garden … Minnesota scratched forward Chris Stewart and defensemen Jonas Brodin and Gustav Olofsson … The Rangers continued to be without injured defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk, Ryan McDonagh and Steven Kampfer.UP NEXT:Wild: Host San Jose on Sunday night.Rangers: Host Detroit on Sunday night. WASHINGTON (AP) For better or for worse Authentic Mikael Backlund Jersey , Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson is an expert when it comes to knowing what the NHL looks for when punishing someone for a dangerous hit, and he thinks Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman could be in trouble.Wilson, who served a three-game suspension earlier this postseason, spoke out about the way Stralman slammed him into the glass in the first period of what turned into a 4-2 victory for Tampa Bay over Washington in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night.Stralman was sent to the penalty box for boarding on the play.”It’s a vulnerable position. There’s no doubt there’s contact with my head. If I’m wearing a helmet from five years ago, I think I’m probably unconscious. So we’ll see what they say,” Wilson said, referring to the possibility of the league’s department of player safety reviewing the matter.On the play, Wilson was facing the glass not too far from the Capitals’ bench when Stralman hit him from behind. Wilson dropped to the ice and put his right glove to his helmet.After the game, which allowed the Lightning to cut their series deficit to 2-1 Mike Smith Jersey , Wilson talked about the ”goose egg on the side of my head” and acknowledged, ”It took me a little bit to collect myself.”He said the hit included ”everything I’ve heard all year: He sees (jersey) numbers for a good amount of time, and he elevates through the back of my shoulder and head.”Capitals coach Barry Trotz referred to those as ”red flags,” and added, ”I understand where Tom’s coming from, no question.””That’s a lot of `don’ts’ for me. From what they’ve been telling me, that’s a lot of `don’ts.’ If I make that hit, 100 percent I’m probably sitting out. So we’ll see. It’s playoffs. It’s an intense time of year,” Wilson said. ”I don’t think he’s a malicious player Artemi Panarin Jersey , at all. But it’s a pretty dangerous hit. I think a lot of people will say that.”The game was scoreless at the time of that hit, but Tampa Bay would go on to take a 3-0 lead en route to the victory. Wilson thought that Stralman’s play might have set a tone that affected the way play went.”(When) someone gets run from behind, for the next couple shifts, you might be a little more tentative coming back for pucks,” Wilson said. ”We’ve got to play through it. There’s going to be emotion.”Senior vice president of player safety George Parros was at Tuesday’s game. During the season, Parros and Wilson met for about an hour to go over video clips of various hits so the player could understand what the league is watching for.During Washington’s elimination of two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs, Wilson missed three games after breaking Penguins rookie Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw in a violent collision.Wilson also was forced to sit out two preseason games following a late hit on an opponent, then was suspended for the first four games of the regular season for boarding a player shortly after his return.—