NEW YORK -- Chris Kreider did just about everything right on the ice, and off it, too. Preston Smith Super Bowl Jersey . Kreider scored a career-best three goals, and Rick Nash added a goal and two assists as the New York Rangers spoiled the return of former coach John Tortorella by rolling to a 5-2 victory over his Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Kreider netted two in the first period for his first NHL multigoal game, and finished his hat trick by tipping in Anton Stralmans shot with his back to the net at 9:38 of the third. Kreider had scored only five goals -- three this season -- in his first 43 career games. After a tough rookie season under Tortorella, in which he spent a large chunk of time playing in the AHL, Kreider didnt reveal any extra satisfaction that his breakout game occurred against this opponent. "I would have struggled trusting me, too," Kreider said of last season. "I was playing through an injury. There are no hard feelings, I learned a lot from him. "I had a pretty positive experience on the whole. At the end of the day, its two points and were happy to come away with the win." Nash and defenceman Michael Del Zotto connected in the second against starting goalie Roberto Luongo and backup Eddie Lack to turn the much-anticipated game into a rout. David Booth and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver, which couldnt build off a 5-2 win at Ottawa on Thursday. The Canucks are 3-5-4 in their last 12 games. "I thought we played better in the games we lost prior (to Thursday)," Tortorella said. Rangers rookie backup Cam Talbot was sharp again in spelling Henrik Lundqvist, and made 35 saves in his first home start to improve to 6-1. He has allowed only 11 goals in eight outings. "I gain a lot of confidence, and confidence in the guys in front of me, too," Talbot said. "Theyve been playing really great in front of me. Im just trying to stop the puck and not let them down because theyre doing a great job of getting me in games and getting me leads." New York bounced back from a 3-2 loss at Boston on Friday, that had new coach Alain Vigneault angry, and snapped a three-game losing streak at home even though they were outshot 37-24. Fans unleashed taunts of "Tor-tor-ella" as the final minutes ticked down. "Im not going to lie to you, its a little weird for me coming back here," Tortorella said. "Once the game starts, its about playing and trying to find a way to get a win. Thats my job, to try to get some traction with this hockey club. Once that starts, its just, Lets go." Vigneault got a bit of satisfaction in the coaching matchup Saturday as he earned a win over his former team that let him go after a first-round playoff ouster last season. Watching Daniel Sedin and twin brother Henrik wearing opposing uniforms provided quite a wakeup call. "When I saw the twins have a couple of their moments out there, I knew we were playing against the Canucks," Vigneault said. "Theyre a good team, but what we had was some great bounces. "A couple of our players made some great defensive efforts, and when that wasnt there, Cam made some great saves." The fiery Tortorella will have another chance to knock off the Rangers, whom he led for 4 1-2 seasons, when they visit Vancouver on April 1. He declined to comment about Kreider, who played only 28 games with the Rangers last season. The Rangers didnt rest after grabbing a 2-0 edge in the first period, and quickly stretched their lead in the opening seconds of the middle frame. It took just one deflected shot by Nash 17 seconds in to make it 3-0 and end the day for Luongo, who stopped only seven of 10 shots. Lack came on and gave up Del Zottos second of the season at 11:04 during a power play that made it a four-goal lead. Luongo, who made his season-high eighth straight start, could be in line for a day off Sunday when the Canucks visit Carolina in another matinee. "Its always hard to either get pulled or to give up a lot of goals," Luongo said. "Ive just got to be better and try to come up with more saves." The Canucks gave up two total power-play goals after allowing only two in their previous 14 games. They hadnt yielded two in one game in 16 contests, dating to Oct. 22. Talbot was seeking his third straight shutout -- all on consecutive Saturdays -- but his bid ended when Booth got Vancouver within 4-1 with 4:10 left in the second. Despite being outshot 14-9 and committing several turnovers, the Rangers headed into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead. Vancouver had a gaffe of its own at the right point, and the puck came to Nash, who kept the puck in the Canucks zone and swept a picture pass onto the stick of Kreider, who was alone in the slot. Kreider quickly let go a shot that got past Luongo to make it 1-0 with 7:23 left in the first. Alex Edler, who didnt get the puck out along the boards, received an earful from Tortorella when he returned to the bench after the goal. The Canucks biggest mistake came with 3:28 remaining when forward Zack Kassian flung the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game. Kreider needed only 22 seconds to double the lead with his second of the day. "We just make a huge mistake 5 feet from the blue line, and it ends up in the back of our net," Tortorella said. "Throw one out of the rink, power-play goal and again were climbing the hill." NOTES: Vigneault replaced defenceman John Moore in the lineup with Del Zotto, who had been scratched for two straight games and five of eight, and benched forward Taylor Pyatt for Derek Dorsett, who had missed two games because of a sprained wrist. ... Edler didnt play the rest of the first period after Kreiders first goal. ... The Canucks fell to 8-7-3 when allowing the first goal. The Rangers are 13-1 when scoring first. Custom Packers Super Bowl Jerseys . - In about six minutes, the Memphis Grizzlies had allowed their 23-point lead to be cut to seven. Jaire Alexander Super Bowl Jersey .com) - Jeff Teague had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 90-85 on Saturday night. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Mason-Crosby-Packers-Jersey/ . Not that Durant cared. The only streak he cares about is still intact.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, With a lot of playoff games this year already going deep into overtime, weve all heard talk about how no player wants to be the one who makes a mistake prompted by exhaustion that leads to the game-winning goal. But to what extent does all this extra play time affect the officials? How much do they feel the physical and mental fatigue caused by a game heading into its second or third overtime period, and is this related to the perception - real or imagined - that officials tend to "swallow their whistles" in OT? Best,Mark Hill Mark: Fatigue was much more of an issue to contend with in the one referee system when we chased the play from end to end and didnt get much of an opportunity for a rest. A refs best friend can be a moving puck. Whenever possible, I attempted to force players to "move it"! Aside from enhancing the entertaining value of the game another upside of sustained action was that players gave and received hits with less likelihood of retaliation and scrums developing. On occasion I wore a heart monitor and during three to five minute runs without a whistle the readings would be sustained between 165-175 bpm. By comparison the highest my heart rate ever got in the two referee system was 98 bpm. There should be no reason (in the two-ref system) where physical fatigue might negatively impact the decision making process for an official regardless how many overtime periods are played. The mental aspect of a referees performance is a whole different kettle of fish! While players dont want to become the "goat" by making a bad play or mistake, the referees internal struggle is all about rendering a decision that might be perceived as a game ending bad call. (You notice I said perceived.) The best remedy in dealing with this pressure is for the official to maintain a rock solid focus of concentration by remaining in the moment and react to call penalties whenever they occur. Once a ref stops refereeing and puts his whistle away he becomes a spectator instead of an enforcer of the playing rules. Each referee can feel intense pressure to make sure any call he makes is viewed as a "must call" in the late stages and overtime. The referees best work is done well in advance of the late stages of a game by maintaining the expected standard of enforcement and to keep the players in check throughout the entire game. Darnell Savage Jr. Super Bowl Jersey. The best deterrent against infractions being committed is "fear" a ref can instill in players that he will call the penalty whenever it is committed. When that is achieved players tend to play much more disciplined. The onus is placed more squarely on the players not to commit infractions once the referees enforce the rules more consistently and when expectations are met. I notice a difference in these playoffs as to which referees the players respond to and those they take full liberties with. Once the penalty standard slides and obvious infractions are let go it is extremely difficult for the referee to make a call in the late stages unless it involves a scoring opportunity, a puck over the glass or a major infraction. At times such as this the referee crew become spectators and fly on a wing and a prayer in hopes that the players will not do something really stupid that might force a call. If the referee chooses to turn his whistle into a fossil the worst thing he can do is upset the apple cart with a penalty call that doesnt have a direct bearing on the play or is of less quality than what he previously has let go. We saw a prime example of this with fewer than two minutes remaining in Game 4 of the Habs-Lightning series. While it is difficult to deny that the trip by Cedric Paquette on Michael Bournival was a legitimate foul, given the countless infractions that were not penalized, the referee(s) were subjected to justifiable ridicule for calling a trip in the corner of the rink at that time of the game. It is important to note there have been some real solid performances by the zebras in games thus far. The officials we notice most however are ones that stop refereeing the game and employ a standard of enforcement that resembles shifting sand. This isnt a result of fatigue; physical or mental. There is an answer to this dilemma. The referees have to be given clear direction by the Officiating Management to know and maintain the expected penalty throughout the entire game. In this regard the officials need to be better coached and held accountable when the expected standard is not met. Finally, when the officials do the job and make the tough calls they need to know they will be supported. ' ' '