NEWARK, N.J. — Artemi Panarin set up two first-period power-play goals for his 64th and 65th assists of the season and the New York Rangers posted a 3-1 victory over cross-river rival New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

Chris Kreider scored his 47th goal of the season and Ryan Strome got one in his return from an injury, and Alexandar Georgiev made 20 saves in winning his fifth straight start. New York improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Defenseman Justin Braun, acquired in a trade-deadline deal with Philadelphia, scored his first goal as a Ranger to give New York a two-goal margin.

Kreider set franchise records with his 25th power-play goal and 10th game-winning goal of the season.

Yegor Sharangovich scored the Devils’ goal – giving them a 1-0 lead at 6:56 in the first for his 20th of the season. He stole the puck from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in the New York zone and beat Georgiev with a backhander on the unassisted goal.

Three minutes later, Sharangovich got into a fight with Braden Schneider after the Rangers defenseman delivered a hard check on Jesper Boqvist in front of the Devils’ bench. Sharangovich got 17 minutes in penalties and a cut on his head, and did not return.

Strome, who missed the last four games with a lower-body injury, tied it up on the ensuing power play after taking a Kreider pass and beating Nico Daws in close.

Kreider gave New York the lead for good with a deflection in front. New York was playing a man up, and Panarin had the primary assist.

Braun scored on a slapper from the left point in the third period. Daws finished with 14 saves.

SABRES 4, HURRICANES 2: Victor Olofsson had a goal and an assist in the third period to lead Buffalo past visiting Carolina.

Jeff Skinner, Casey Mittelstadt and Dylan Cozens also scored for the Sabres, and Craig Anderson made 32 saves in the opening game of a home-and-home set with the Hurricanes.

Earning a point for the ninth time in 10 games (6-1-3), Buffalo held off being eliminated from the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th consecutive season.

Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist for Carolina. Jesper Fast also scored, Jordan Staal had two assists and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 shots.

BLUE JACKETS 4, FLYERS 2: Justin Danforth scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, Elvis Merzlikins stopped 47 shots and visiting Columbus  ended a seven-game skid.

Sean Kuraly added an empty-netter for Columbus in the final seconds.

The Blue Jackets last won March 19 and let their playoff hopes all but disappear over the last three weeks.

SENATORS 6, CANADIENS 3: Austin Watson scored twice and Ottawa had three goals in the third period to win at Montreal.

Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Colin White also scored for Ottawa.

Anton Forsberg made 27 saves as the Sens downed the Habs for the first time this season.

Montreal’s Justin Barron scored his first NHL goal in his first game at the Bell Centre. Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield added goals, and Jake Allen made 26 saves.

AVALANCHE 6, PENGUINS 4: Colorado clinched a playoff spot with the help of two goals from Nathan MacKinnon in a win at Pittsburgh.

It’s the fifth straight playoff berth for the Avs, who also became the first NHL team to 50 wins this season and have ripped off nine wins in 11 games.

MacKinnon scored his 23rd and 24th of the season, and J.T. Compher got his his 14th of the year. Darren Helm, Josh Manson and Artturi Lehkonen also scored. Darcy Kuemper won his 33rd game and stopped 41 shots.

Bryan Rust, Evan Rodrigues, Jake Guentzel and Mike Matheson all scored for the Penguins, but they lost for the second time in as many games against Colorado.

PANTHERS 7, MAPLE LEAFS 6:  Jonathan Huberdeau scored his second goal of the game in overtime and also had three assists, helping Florida overcome a four-goal deficit to beat visiting Toronto.

The Atlantic Division-leading Panthers trailed 5-1 midway through the second period before roaring back. Sam Reinhart scored twice, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and three assists, Claude Giroux got his first goal with Florida and Radko Gudas also scored.

Huberdeau took a pass from Barkov in overtime and poked it past Jack Campbell for his 102nd point this season. The Panthers improved to 49-15-6, setting a franchise record with their 104th point.

NOTES

DUCKS: Captain Ryan Getzlaf, 36, will retire at the conclusion of the regular season, ending his 17-year NHL career spent entirely with one club.

The Ducks (28-31-12) have 11 games left in what’s almost certain to be their fourth consecutive non-playoff season.

Getzlaf, who played 17 games for the Portland Pirates in 2006-06, has been one of the top playmaking centers in hockey for most of his career, scoring 1,013 points in 1,150 games since his NHL debut in October 2005 with the then-Mighty Ducks. A sublime passer with remarkable vision on the ice, he became Anaheim’s career franchise scoring leader last Oct. 31, and he became the 92nd player in league history to score 1,000 points on Nov. 16.

Getzlaf also leads the Ducks in career games played and assists (731). He has been Anaheim’s captain for the past 12 seasons, presiding over a lengthy period of sustained team success before their current struggles.

He is a Stanley Cup champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada, a three-time NHL All-Star and the runner-up for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP in 2014.

DEVILS: The New Jersey Devils will be without leading goal-scorer Jack Hughes for the rest of the season due to a left knee injury.

Hughes was hurt Sunday in the second period when he was checked along the boards in his own zone by Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom. A medical evaluation showed Hughes has a low-grade left MCL sprain.

The team said he is out for the season and will begin rehabilitation and conditioning immediately.