By ALLAN KREDA

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal scored third-period goals and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-2 on Tuesday night in a showdown for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Chris Kreider scored late for his 50th goal of the season, but Carolina moved four points ahead of second-place New York with eight games remaining in the regular season. Kreider became the fourth player in Rangers history to reach the milestone.

The Rangers had their three-game winning streak snapped but are 7-2-1 in their last 10. They clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2017 with a win over Ottawa last Saturday and are 24-8-4 at home.

After the teams traded goals in the second period, Jarvis put the Hurricanes ahead at 1:04 of the third, taking a pass from Sebastian Aho and flipping a backhand past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Aho finished with a goal and two assists. He leads the Hurricanes with 41 assists and 75 points.

The goal was the 14th of the season for the rookie Jarvis, a first-round draft pick by Carolina in 2020. Former Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei also assisted.

Staal, the Hurricanes captain, made it 3-1 at 6:42 with his 14th goal. Staal has six goals in his last four games. Skjei and another former Ranger, forward Jesper Fast, had assists.

Kreider scored his milestone goal at 18:22 but Aho added an empty-netter, his 34th, at 19:54 to complete the scoring.

With a chance to tie the Hurricanes for first place, the Rangers were hosting Carolina in its first visit to Madison Square Garden since Dec. 27, 2019.

The Rangers entered 18-1-0 in their last 19 home games against the Hurricanes, who proved why they have been atop the division for the majority of the season.

The teams split the first two meetings this season in North Carolina. The Hurricanes won 6-3 on Jan. 21, then the Rangers won 2-0 on March 20.

The Rangers outshot the Hurricanes 14-8 in a scoreless first before defenseman K’Andre Miller opened the scoring at 1:03 of the second. Miller converted a pass from Mika Zibanejad for his seventh goal of the season. Frank Vatrano also assisted.

Zibanejad has a career-best 48 assists, including four in his last three games. He has points in 10 of his last 13 games.

Vatrano has six goals and four assists in 14 games with the Rangers since he was acquired from Florida last month.

Andrei Svechnikov tied it for Carolina at 13:38 of the second with his 29th goal. Svechnikov managed to bank the puck off Shesterkin’s skate from behind the goal line. Assists went to Jarvis and Aho.

HADFIELD ON KREIDER

Vic Hadfield, the first Rangers player to reach the 50-goal mark in 1972, said he is thrilled for Kreider to join an exclusive club that also includes Adam Graves and Jaromir Jagr.

“He’s a special player. He gets in the right position, goes into that front area where nobody is. He does that so well,’’ said Hadfield, who scored 262 goals for the Rangers and whose retired No. 11 jersey hangs from The Garden rafters. “Nobody is happier than me. It couldn’t happen to a nicer kid.”

RETURN OF THE EX-RANGERS

The Hurricanes have six former Rangers on their roster and four — Skjei, Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Smith and Fast — played on Tuesday. Goaltender Antti Raanta was the backup to Andersen while forward Derek Stepan — who played seven seasons for the Rangers plus 97 playoff games — was scratched. Fast received a solo video tribute early in the first period followed by a combined video acknowledging Skjei, Smith and DeAngelo.

NOTES: The teams meet again April 26 at MSG. … The Rangers scratched forwards Greg McKegg, Filip Chytil, Julien Gauther, Tyler Motte and Jonny Brodzinski plus defensemen Patrik Nemeth and Libor Hajek. … The Hurricanes also scratched Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defenseman Ethan Bear.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.

Hurricanes: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports