Nash leads Rangers past Coyotes 5-1 in Vigneault’s 500th win

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Rick Nash scored his NHL-best 35th goal early in a four-goal third period, and the New York Rangers beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-1 on Saturday night to give coach Alain Vigneault his 500th career win.

Cam Talbot made 34 saves, including on Tobias Rieder's third-period penalty shot, in the Rangers' third straight win.

Vigneault became the 21st coach in league history to reach the milestone, coming in his second season with the Rangers.

Chris Kreider, Marc Staal and Lee Stempniak also scored for the Rangers and Kevin Hayes added a short-handed goal.

Antoine Vermette scored for the Coyotes, while Mike Smith made 28 saves in Arizona's seventh straight home loss.

Nash sent a shot from the right circle off the crossbar and in 1:19 into the final period to make it 2-1. It was Nash's seventh goal in eight games as he moved closer to his career high of 40 goals with Columbus in 2008-09.

But Talbot, who made his sixth straight start for the injured Henrik Lundqvist, was tested just a few minutes later. Dominic Moore hauled down Rieder, setting up Arizona's second penalty shot in a week. Both failed.

Talbot gobbled up Rieder's backhand attempt, and the Rangers soon unleashed their potent offense that's been key to their 6-1-1 stretch.

Hayes soon scored the Rangers' eighth short-handed goal of the season. Staal's goal with 5:44 left and Stempniak's tally with 2:13 left gave the Rangers 33 goals in nine games.

Offense has been a constant in Vigneault's career. The 53-year-old, who also had stints coaching Montreal and Vancouver, improved to 500-355-35-72 in the NHL.

Vigneault moved into a tie with Toe Blake for the 20th most wins in the league. Pat Burns (501) is next on the list.

The Rangers were without defenseman Dan Boyle (illness), who had scored the first goal in each of New York's last two games, and got off to a sluggish start.

After a sloppy first period, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead 54 seconds into the second period when the speedy Kreider raced past Arizona's Michael Stone and wrapped a backhand inside the far post.

But the Coyotes, who got center Joe Vitale back after a nine-game injury absence, looked sharp early in its second game in as many nights.

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