Hagelin, in just his 16th NHL game, scored in the second and third periods for the surging Rangers (22-8-4) - the Atlantic Division leaders, who leapfrogged the defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins into first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers finished a 3-0 homestand that included a pair of victories over the Islanders in a five-day span. New York’s past four victories have been against division rivals. The Rangers begin a three-game trip at Washington tomorrow that will conclude with the outdoor Winter Classic in Philadelphia Monday.

Hurricanes 4, Devils 2 - Cam Ward made 23 saves and was credited with a bizarre empty-net goal, leading host Carolina past New Jersey.

Ward’s first career goal came at the end of a strange sequence. Ilya Kovalchuk’s errant pass for Adam Henrique from the end line wound up going the length of the ice and into an empty net with 29.4 seconds left.

Officials initially awarded the goal to Sutter before a postgame review determined he never touched the puck.

Kings 4, Coyotes 3 - Willie Mitchell scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and host Los Angeles earned its second victory under new coach Darryl Sutter.

Rob Scuderi, Brad Richardson, and Dustin Brown also scored for the Kings.

Raffi Torres scored two goals for the Coyotes, and Daymond Langkow added a third-period goal in Phoenix’s sixth loss in nine games.

Sabres 4, Capitals 2 - Brayden McNabb capped Buffalo’s four-goal first period with his first NHL goal and the Sabres cruised to a win over visiting Washington.

Jason Pominville, Matt Ellis, and Christian Ehrhoff also scored in the first period for Buffalo.

Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 1 - Viktor Stalberg scored two goals and Corey Crawford made 37 saves to lift Chicago at home.

Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and Patrick Sharp also connected for the Blackhawks.

Avalanche 4, Wild 2 - Jan Hejda scored the go-ahead goal at 10:20 of the third period Colorado snapped a nine-game road losing skid with a win over Minnesota.

The Avalanche won on the road for the first time since Oct. 22 and extended the Wild’s winless streak to seven games.

Blues 5, Stars 3 - Adam Cracknell scored the tiebreaking goal after being recalled from the minors earlier in the day to carry St. Louis to a win over Dallas.

Chris Stewart scored twice for St. Louis including an empty-net goal with 50 seconds left.

Red Wings 4, Predators 1 - Valtteri Filppula scored a pair of goals to lead Detroit over host Nashville.

Pavel Datsyuk and Danny Cleary also scored for Detroit.

Canucks 5, Oilers 3 - Andrew Ebbett scored twice and Vancouver beat visiting Edmonton.

Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, and Ryan Kesler also scored for the Canucks, who won for the 13th time in 17 games to move ahead of Minnesota for the Northwest division lead.

Ducks 3, Sharks 2 - Andrew Cogliano scored the tiebreaking goal at 12:46 of the second period to lift host Anaheim over San Jose.