NHL: Prospal scores No. 200 in NYR win

NEW YORK — Vinny Prospal scored two goals — including his 200th in the NHL — during first-period power plays and the New York Rangers stretched their winning streak to six games with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

Prospal added an assist on Marian Gaborik's sixth of the season that made it 4-2 at 4:22 of the third. Gaborik has 10 points in the young season and at least one in all seven games.

The Rangers swept a three-game homestand in four days and improved to 6-0 since a season-opening loss at Pittsburgh. Former Kings forward Brian Boyle scored a second-period goal, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots for his fifth win in six games.

It is New York's longest winning streak since another six-game run in the 2005-06 season.

Ryan Smyth and Michal Handzus scored for Los Angeles, which had won four in a row after losing on opening night to Phoenix. Erik Ersberg, making his first start of the season in relief of No. 1 goalie Jon Quick, stopped 17 shots.

Smyth has been quite an addition to the Kings' top line after being acquired in the offseason. He has five goals and nine points in six games, reaching the score sheet in each contest. Los Angeles, however, dropped to 2-1 on its six-game road trip that began with wins at St. Louis and the New York Islanders.

Prospal gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead 3:11 in when he tipped in defenseman Michael Del Zotto's shot for his milestone goal in his 15th NHL season. Smyth answered 1:10 later with a similar deflection in front.

Prospal struck again for goal No. 201 — his third of the season — during New York's 5-on-3 power play at 13:03. Prospal got some help from video replay which showed that he chipped the puck in from behind the net before the referee's whistle blew to stop play.

Boyle, a Kings first-round draft pick in 2003, scored his first goal with the Rangers 2:17 into the second when his drive clanged hard off the left post and bounced in off Ersberg's leg to make it 3-1.

The Kings again climbed back within a goal when Handzus deflected in Jack Johnson's long shot, while screening Lundqvist, at 7:18 of the second. As Toronto did in a loss to New York on Monday, Los Angeles carried play in the middle period, but not enough to get even.

Los Angeles held a 14-11 shots edge in the second and 10-1 in the third.