Shesterkin makes 41 saves, Rangers defeat Stars for 8th straight win

NEW YORK -- Igor Shesterkin made 41 saves to help the New York Rangers win their eighth straight game, 3-1 against the Dallas Stars at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

"We play our best every night and we're on one page right now," Shesterkin said.

Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Rangers (37-16-3), who extended their season-long winning streak in their first game since a 6-5 overtime victory against the New York Islanders in the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

The Rangers are first in the Metropolitan Division, six points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes.

"We've been winning in different ways," Fox said. "This is the time where you see points are so crucial, you start getting a playoff picture and you win eight straight and teams are still right there with you. You can't take your foot off the gas, and we recognize that."

Miro Heiskanen scored, and Scott Wedgewood made 23 saves for the Stars (34-15-8), who lost their third straight game (0-1-2) and were coming off a 4-3 shootout loss at the Boston Bruins on Monday.

"Our guy was pretty good, too, but that was elite goaltending for sure," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. "[Tyler] Seguin and [Jamie] Benn both point blank at the end. We had a few there. You have to give them credit, he was really good, but you know that going in. You know he's one of the best in the League, so you've got to get some more traffic, you've got to make it more difficult on him and find a way. But we created enough chances to score more than one goal tonight."

Shesterkin was arguably at his best in the third period, making 17 saves, including on Benn's wide-open one-timer from the lower part of the right face-off circle at 13:55.

But his most dramatic moment came a little later, when he stopped Seguin twice in a row; the first with his right toe off a netfront deflection at 15:29, and the other one second later by reaching across the crease with his blocker to keep him from scoring into what initially looked like an empty net.

"I have to give him a good dinner right now," Shesterkin said jokingly. "I just tried to play it until the end. If he goes high, it will be a goal. I was lucky tonight."

Fox gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:46 of the first period.

Alexis Lafreniere kept the puck alive in the crease behind Wedgewood. Artemi Panarin came in from the left side and took it off the left post, went behind the net and found Fox cutting in through the right circle for a one-timer with Wedgewood out of position.

Kakko made it 2-0 with a 4-on-4 goal at 8:23 of the second period.

K'Andre Miller, Erik Gustafsson and Kakko ran a weave up top, Gustafsson eventually found Kakko in the left circle with some space to shoot, and he beat Wedgewood with a high shot over his blocker.

"Most of the night we went glove and we needed to go blocker, and he went on the short side on the blocker and made a really nice goal," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "I do think confidence plays into that."

Kakko extended his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists).

"I've got to find a way to put him out there more," Laviolette said. "That's on me, because I think he's playing well right now."

Heiskanen cut it to 2-1 at 9:10 on the power play, scoring from the bottom of the left circle off a pass across the slot from Benn.

Shesterkin kept it 2-1 with a highlight-reel, windmill glove save on Wyatt Johnston at 17:26 of the second before he dominated the third.

"We definitely had our chances," Benn said. "I think we're actually playing pretty good. [Monday] night was a great effort. Tonight, probably not for 60 minutes, but we had a chance to win that game. It just didn't happen. We're sticking with the game plan here."

Trocheck scored into the empty net at 18:19 to make it 3-1, but Shesterkin still had to make another four saves to preserve the Rangers' eighth straight victory, their longest streak since winning nine in a row during the 2015-16 season.

"We left January, left the (All-Star) break and came in and said, 'We're turning the page here, this is a new chapter, our actions are the ink, write it down and say what you want to say,'" Laviolette said. "We've just been moving slow with it and the guys have been buying into that."

NOTES: Heiskanen played his 400th NHL game after missing the game Monday because of the birth of his child. … Dallas recalled forward Logan Stankoven from Texas of the American Hockey League before the game, but he was a healthy scratch because Matt Duchene returned after sitting out Monday with a lower-body injury. Stankoven is the AHL's leading scorer with 57 points (24 goals, 33 assists) in 46 games. … The Rangers are 33-2-2 when allowing three goals or fewer this season.