Rangers edge Flyers, tie franchise record with 10th straight victory

PHILADELPHIA -- Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves, and the New York Rangers tied a team record with their 10th straight win, 2-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Alexis Lafrenière and Matt Rempe scored for New York (39-16-3), which has won 10 straight two other times in its history (Dec. 19, 1939 to Jan. 13, 1940; Jan. 19 to Feb. 10, 1973).

"It's definitely cool, something to be proud of, for sure," Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. "We'll be happy about it tonight, and then you move on and get ready for the next one."

Tyson Foerster scored for Philadelphia (30-21-7), which had won three straight at home. Samuel Ersson made 22 saves.

"We came out hard, we finished hard," Flyers forward Scott Laughton said. "Needed a bounce here or there and it's a tie game. Guys battled hard for each other tonight. Take a lot of positives out of it. Obviously, you want the two points, but we stuck with it."

Shesterkin made 18 saves in the first period, when the Rangers were outshot 18-9.

"I thought the first period they had us and we needed Igor to be really good, and he was," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "He gave us a chance. ... We're a little slow out of the gate, and if he's not ready then it can be a different story. But he was on point tonight."

It was Shesterkin's sixth straight victory and third straight game allowing only one goal. He has a 1.84 goals-against average and .951 save percentage during his winning streak. It's a big difference from his previous 10 games, when he had a 3.25 GAA and .863 save percentage.

When asked what has changed, Shesterkin said with a laugh: "It's a secret. Nothing (has changed). Everything is the same, puck is the same size, I see the puck, same speed. Everything's the same, but the guys play awesome in front of me. I just start to touch the puck more, that's it."

Rempe put the Rangers ahead 2-1 at 6:31 of the third period, getting his first NHL point in his fourth game. The rookie forward was standing in front of the net when a puck redirected by Barclay Goodrow deflected in off his leg.

"Maybe the ugliest first goal in NHL history, but I'll take it," Rempe said. "It was so much fun. ... I felt something hit my shin pad pretty hard. I didn't know it was the puck, but I'll take it. Just go to the net, bang bodies, that's my game. Play fast and hard."

Shesterkin preserved the lead when he stopped Travis Sanheim with his left pad on a 2-on-0 short-handed breakaway at 10:10.

"He's incredible," Lindgren said of Shesterkin. "Both our goalies are, but 'Shesty' has been outstanding lately. He's keeping us in games, especially early. It seemed like they had a strong push from the start and Shesty kept that game at 0-0. He's been huge."

Lafreniere gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the second period. With the teams playing at 4-on-4, Vincent Trocheck skated the puck into the Flyers zone and passed to a trailing Lafreniere, who moved to the top of the left face-off circle and beat Ersson between his pads.

Foerster tied it 1-1 at 2:36 of the third period. He scored with a one-timer from the edge of the crease after Laughton fed him from behind the net while falling to the ice. Foerster returned to the lineup after missing four games with an injury to his right foot.

"He's been good for us all year," Laughton said. "He's got a great stick, he's great in his own zone, great 200-foot player. We're going to need him to be good coming up here."

Philadelphia played without forward Travis Konecny, its leading scorer (54 points; 27 goals, 27 assists), who is day-to-day because of an upper-body injury sustained during practice Friday.

NOTES: The Rangers didn't score in the first period, ending a stretch of 12 periods (including overtime) with at least one goal. ... Trocheck has eight points (five goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak. His goal streak ended at four games. ... New York has won five straight games in Philadelphia. ... Rangers forward Artemi Panarin had his four-game point streak end. ... Laughton has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak, which is tied for his NHL career high.