Rangers defeat Devils for eighth straight time

NEW YORK -- Igor Shesterkin made 32 saves for the New York Rangers, who won their eighth straight against the New Jersey Devils, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

Shesterkin did not allow a goal on the last 25 shots, including 19 after the Rangers took a 2-1 lead. He is 7-1-1 in his past nine starts and has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of them.
"He's been unbelievable," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "I mean, seriously, how many Grade A chances did they get? The rush chances they got, the Grade A chances, the breakaways, he's unbelievable."
Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored for New York (35-15-5), which is 7-2-1 in its past 10 games.
"I feel like we've been at times playing … like we've been talking about all year," Zibanejad said. "There are moments in the game when they get some momentum and we probably have to do a little bit of a better job to eliminate that time, their momentum swings. Overall, I think we've been doing what we need to do to get the wins."

Nico Hischier scored, and Nico Daws made 29 saves for New Jersey (19-31-5), which has lost two in a row and five of seven.
"Shesterkin had a great game," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He made some high-quality saves. We missed some really good opportunities and he made saves on some really good ones. That was a game where he shut us down on some real good looks."
Ruff said he liked the way the Devils played, particularly after a slow start in the first 10 minutes, but he felt they simply were beaten by the goalie.
"Really, that's what it was," he said. "I mean, we were playing as solid as we could play. Even until they scored on the third one, I don't think they had a chance [in the third period] until that point. I thought 5-on-5 we skated well, played well."

Shesterkin made 12 saves in the third period, 11 before the Rangers gave him a two-goal cushion when Kreider made it 3-1 at 11:23. The forward scored his New York-leading 36th goal with a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Zibanejad.
The Rangers outshot the Devils 8-1 in the final 8:37.
"Early on [in the season] we were struggling with those leads and we needed a few [wins] to kind of get that confidence," Zibanejad said. "Obviously, it helps a lot with having [Shesterkin] back there, but we try to do everything we can to not leave him all by himself in the last five minutes of a game."
Filip Chytil gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 8:57 of the second period after Ryan Lindgren got the puck in the neutral zone off a New Jersey turnover, skated into the left circle and dropped it back for a short-side shot.
"Usually, we have a play that we have to drive the net, the middle guy, but the defender was a little lower so I told 'Lindy' 'Give me the puck' and I'm happy I scored the goal," Chytil said.

Shesterkin preserved the one-goal lead when he aggressively came out of his crease with his paddle down to stop Devils defenseman Ryan Graves before he could get a shot off from below the left hash marks at 18:27. The goalie's helmet came off as Graves toppled over him.
Jacob Trouba helped early in the third period with two blocked shots seven seconds apart on slot shots from Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich. Shesterkin patted Trouba on the back to thank him during the stoppage in play at 1:16.
Shesterkin saved Andreas Johansson's shot from the slot off a rebound during a Devils power play at 6:30, one of five saves he made during that penalty kill.
"He's unbelievable, he's out of this world," Chytil said of Shesterkin. "That's incredible what he's doing every night, the way he's playing."
Zibanejad gave New York a 1-0 lead at 11:11 of the first period, scoring off a rebound of Trouba's shot.
Hischier tied it 1-1 at 13:56 with a high glove-side shot from between the hash marks after splitting the Rangers defense.
NOTES: Rangers forward Greg McKegg (non-COVID-19 illness) did not play for the first time in 27 games. Morgan Barron replaced him and played nine shifts totaling 6:32. … Devils forward Pavel Zacha was scratched with a non-COVID-19 illness and replaced by Mason Geertsen, who played 8:27 in 14 shifts and had four hits. … Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski had a shot on goal and won three of four face-offs playing 9:28 on 14 shifts in his first NHL game since Jan. 30. He was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and replaced center Kevin Rooney, who is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.