NEW YORK >> Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander each scored twice, Thatcher Demko made 39 saves and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New York Rangers 6-3 on Monday night in battle of first-place teams.

JT Miller and Brock Boeser also scored goals while and Pettersson, Boeser and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece for Vancouver, which won for the third time in four games.

After missing the playoffs for three straight seasons, the Canucks lead the Pacific Division with a 26-11-3 record. The Rangers lead the Metropolitan Division.

Vincent Trocheck had two goals and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Rangers, who lost their second straight for just the second time this season. Alexis Lafreniere had two assists. Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves.

PENGUINS 4, FLYERS 1 >> Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in a scrappy contest on Monday night.

Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Pittsburgh, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 36 saves.

Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who have lost seven of nine.

The game was feisty between the in-state rivals, with several scrums around the net and in the corners after plays. The teams combined for 11 penalties that totaled 24 minutes.