Rangers keep pace in East playoff race with win against Sabres

Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the New York Rangers, who kept pace in the MassMutual East Division race with a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday.

Alexis Lafreniere broke a tie in the third period for the Rangers (26-18-6), who won their third straight to sweep the two-game set.
"When you play more and when you play a lot you grow more confident, you get more trust, you help the team win," said Shesterkin, who has started 16 of 19 games since returning from injury. "The guys block a lot of shots in front of you, and that's also helpful. Today we played a very smart hockey game defensively and offensively and the result was as it should have been. We're giving ourselves a chance to fight for the playoffs."
The fifth-place Rangers are four points behind the fourth-place Boston Bruins, who have two games in hand. The Bruins defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Tuesday. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Sam Reinhart scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 38 saves for the Sabres (13-30-7), who lost 6-3 here Sunday.
"We did a good job creating chances. We definitely could've limited a few more for them," Buffalo center Casey Mittelstadt said. "But we created chances and the goalie played well. There's sometimes where we've got to bear down and finish some of those. I guess that's a positive. You always want to be creating chances. Some nights they're going to go in and some nights they're not."
Lafreniere scored on a one-timer from the high slot to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 9:49 of the third period.
Mika Zibanejad, at the left side of the net, extended it to 3-1 on the power play at 13:49 with his 20th goal of the season.
"I don't think we were too happy with our first [period]. I thought they came on really well," New York defenseman Brendan Smith said. "We knew what we had to do, we talked about it in the dressing room, and from the second it just continued to get better.
"It was kind of a trickle-down effect of just what we had to do and get better at and come through the system, and it took care of us. That's what we've been preaching. If you follow the system, it will take care of us. Ultimately, the third period became our best because we wore them down."

The Sabres got six shots on goal before the Rangers had their first, and outshot New York 16-6 in the first period.
"I just thought they were playing faster than we were," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "There really is just no other answer for what happened in the first period. Then I thought the second was much better for us. A real kick in the [butt]. We give up that goal at the end of the period, just some sloppy penalty killing, which is uncharacteristic of us. You play back to back and you win the first one the way we did, I think human nature kicks in, I don't care what is at stake. I just thought they were the hungrier team at the start of the game and we were fortunate to get out if it 0-0."
Smith put New York in front 1-0 at 2:22 of the second period when Buffalo center Dylan Cozens' pass attempt went through Anders Bjork's legs to Smith at the point.
It was one of 20 shots on goal for the Rangers in the period.
"Obviously they weren't happy with their first period and they elevated," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "We came out right away in the second period, did not keep things simple. We made some passes back toward our net after entering the offensive zone. We just didn't make some hard plays. We didn't keep possession. We made some soft plays that caused that."

Reinhart scored for a third straight game to tie it 1-1 on the power play at 19:56. He has scored 22 goals in three straight seasons.
"I think everyone's always confident in Sam," Mittelstadt said. "He's been doing it for a while now. He's really stepped up lately. I think that's pretty much as simple as you get him the puck and he's been finishing and making plays. It's not even so much the points, it's making small plays all over the rink. He's done a great job."
NOTES:Lafreniere (19 years old) is the fifth teenager in Rangers history to score at least 10 goals in a season (Mike Allison, Alexei Kovalev, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko). … Strome's assist on Zibanejad's goal was his 300th NHL point. He has 109 goals and 191 assists in 541 games in eight NHL seasons with the Rangers, New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers. … Reinhart has scored 14 goals on the road to tie Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tyler Toffoli of the Montreal Canadiens for most in the NHL. … Rangers defenseman Adam Fox has a four-game assist streak (six assists). … Zibanejad scored 20 goals for the fourth straight season and sixth in the NHL. … The Rangers won the season series 6-1-1. The Sabres were 2-4-2.