WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Alain Vigneault declared before the Rangers' match Friday night this is the time of year when an "A or A-plus game" is required in order to win.
And that is exactly what the Rangers and their coach received from Henrik Lundqvist, steadfast in the face of relentless pressure around his net in a 4-2 victory that enabled him to tie Mike Richter's franchise record of 301 career victories.
Carl Hagelin recorded the first hat trick of his career, notching one per period, but it was The King's royal effort that allowed the Blueshirts to end their two-game losing streak in which lethargy had become an issue.
Lundqvist made a bucketful of key stops, but his left-pad stretch on Michael Frolik at 6:45 of the third that preserved a 3-2 lead might have been his best. Hagelin got the insurance goal two minutes later as the Rangers regained second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Vigneault effected a dramatic change in his line combinations, splitting up Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis after the pair had been together for five unproductive games following the trade deadline acquisition of No. 26.
St. Louis entered the match goal-less in five games wearing the Blueshirt, with a lone assist coming on a five-on-three power play on March 7 in Carolina. Richards had one assist in those five games, on that same two-man advantage. Each picked up an assist on Friday.
"[That combination] hasn't had the impact we hoped it was going to have," Vigneault said before the game. "We've tried I now for five games. I've been patient. It's probably time to try something else."
Vigneault created a speed-and-skill unit with St. Louis joining Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, the club's most creative forward. The coach moved Richards between Hagelin and Benoit Pouliot while reuniting the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash unit that had been intact for 30 of the previous 31 matches.
The changes came after the Blueshirts had been limited to one goal in each of their two defeats on this trip that preceded Friday's match. The team had scored a sum of 11 goals in going 2-2-1 over the last five matches with only four coming at five-on-five.
The juggling of personnel was rewarded quickly, when Hagelin cashed in on a double deflection of a Kevin Klein right-point drive. The puck first was tipped by Pouliot after Richards' right circle faceoff victory against Jim Slater following a debatable icing call. Hagelin's second goal in 13 games gave the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead at 1:15.
But the Jets erased the lead less than a minute later and in fact took a 2-1 lead themselves with a pair of goals within 53 seconds.
Dustin Byfuglien muscled his way to the front for a mid-air tap-in of a rebound at 2:33 following a sequence in which the Jets won numerous races to the puck. Then it was Andrew Ladd blowing a left dot drive over Lundqvist's right shoulder for a 2-1 lead at 3:26.
The Rangers survived several glorious Winnipeg chances before tying the game at 11:28 when Kreider went streaking down the left side to collect a headman feed from Stepan before whipping a wrist shot through Ondrej Pavelec for his third goal in seven games and 17th of the season. Pavelec was removed after the period in favor of former Rangers first-round draft pick Al Montoya.
The second period settled down somewhat, with Lundqvist repelling several chances from around the net. Then, after the Blueshirts killed consecutive power plays less than four minutes apart late in the period by holding the Jets to one shot, Hagelin converted a gorgeous backhand feed from St. Louis at 19:53 after No. 26 came out of the box to collect Klein's rink-length clear.
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