Artem Anisimov, Vinny Prospal and defenseman Dan Girardi collected a goal and an assist apiece as the New York Rangers scored five times in the first period and cruised to a 6-3 home triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

Ryan Callahan netted his 12th goal in 20 games and Marian Gaborik and Brian Boyle recorded their respective 21st tallies of the season as New York (38-30-4) won its third in a row and fifth in six outings.

Erik Christensen and defenseman Marc Staal notched a pair of assists apiece for the Rangers, who thwarted a regular-season sweep at the hands of their Original Six rivals.

Henrik Lundqvist finished with 22 saves to claim his 30th win for the sixth straight campaign.

With New York nursing a 2-1 advantage late in the first period, Callahan and Gaborik tallied 32 seconds apart and Boyle scored 35 seconds later to give the Rangers a four-goal cushion.

Captain Brian Gionta and defenseman James Wisniewski both scored a goal and set up another and All-Star blue-liner P.K. Subban also tallied for Montreal (39-26-7), which has dropped three of its last five.

Carey Price permitted five goals on 12 shots before being relieved by Alex Auld, who finished with 18 saves.