Georgiev makes 38 saves, Rangers shut out Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS --Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for the New York Rangers in a 5-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Georgiev, who had a 33-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 30, is 3-1-0 with a .974 save percentage in his past four starts.
"The way they play, they're a really fast team. Lots of scoring chances off the rush," Georgiev said. "Obviously, it's a really fun building to play in. We wanted to play really good hockey today and get back from the loss last time (2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday)."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Jacob Trouba and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Strome had two assists for New York (15-11-3), which has won six of its past nine games (6-2-1).
This was the second time in seven days the teams played each other. Vegas defeated New York 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
"We owed it to ourselves after that game," Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. "Knowing how they play was so fresh last week. It was a good response, and we got away with two points."

Malcolm Subban made 20 saves in his seventh consecutive start for Vegas (15-12-5), which had its five-game point streak end and is 1-2-1 in its past four home games.
Panarin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 11:03 of the first period after receiving a cross-ice pass from Marc Staal and scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.
Chris Kreider scored 14 seconds later to make it 2-0, redirecting a cross-slot pass from Strome.
The Golden Knights outshot the Rangers 17-7 in the first period.
"We played really well for the first 10 minutes," Golden Knights forward Mark Stone said. "Chances were there. We bury one or two of those and it's a completely different game. Funny league. You win some that you deserve to lose, and you lose some that you deserve to win."
Trouba extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:14 of the second period. After Ryan Reaves was assessed a double minor for high-sticking at 5:03, Trouba scored on the rebound of Strome's initial shot.

"The unfortunate thing is we had great chances to make it 2-1, and all of a sudden, we get that double minor and go down 3-0," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought we played pretty good for 25-30 minutes and then I wasn't happy with the last 30. The push stopped when it shouldn't have stopped."
Jesper Fast received a slap pass from Trouba and scored from below the left circle to make it 4-0 at 10:32.
Zibanejad scored a power-play goal to push the lead to 5-0 at 15:05 of the third period when his pass from below the goal line deflected in off Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb's skate.
Golden Knights forward Cody Glass left the game with an upper-body injury at 16:47 of the second period after being elbowed in the head by Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux, who was not assessed a penalty on the play. Gallant said Glass would be evaluated Monday.

They said it

"I think he's just a really good goalie and I thought we found out about that last year. I think he's just reiterating everything we already knew and maybe bringing his game to another level. He's getting more confident. He's very dedicated to being the best goalie he can be and he really gave us a chance to calm ourselves down, and I thought we did a good job in front of him. He's been playing very well." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on Alexandar Georgiev
"We've got to find ways to score goals. There's times in this League you've got to find ways to win games and when bounces are going the way they did tonight, you have to find ways to capitalize and we didn't do that early on in the game. Ultimately, it cost us in the second and the third. Just chasing the game and that's not us." -- Golden Knights forward Mark Stone

Need to know

New York defensemen have 86 points this season, the most in the NHL. … Rangers forward Brady Skjei had an assist for his 100th point in the NHL. … Trouba has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past six games. … Zibanejad has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Golden Knights forwards Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault each had their four-game point streak end. … Gallant said he would like goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to get more time in practice before he returns to the starting lineup. Fleury (personal leave) has not played since Nov. 23. … The Rangers are 9-1-0 in games following a loss since they were defeated 3-2 in overtime by the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 22.

What's next

Rangers:At the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, MSG 2, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights:Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ATTSN-RM, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)