Shesterkin makes 24 saves, Rangers hold off Capitals to end 4-game skid

NEW YORK -- Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves, and the New York Rangers ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière scored for the Rangers (27-13-2), who had lost three straight in regulation and six of eight since Dec. 29, including 3-2 in Washington on Saturday.

"We know we can play better than we played the past couple of games before today," Lafreniere said. "I think today we played a better game. Defensively we were better. That's why we were winning early on, just playing hard defense and offense came after."

T.J. Oshie scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves in his second consecutive start for the Capitals (20-15-6), who have lost four of six (2-4-0).

The Capitals were 5-for-5 on the penalty kill with Lindgren making 12 saves, but they were 0-for-2 with three shots on goal on the power play.

"I liked our game," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. "I thought we carried most of the play from the second half of that game or two thirds of that game. First period just a couple situations get away from us, but the overall first period I wasn't really disappointed with other than giving up the two goals in those two situations.

“Loved our second period, loved our third period. We had to kill a ton. Penalty kill was great. We just would have liked to have found a way to get that second one and potentially get on the power play a couple more times."

Panarin gave New York a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the game on a sweeping one-timer while going down to one knee in the left face-off circle off a pass from Vincent Trocheck.

Panarin has 11 goals in his past 13 games and 27 in 42 games. He has never scored more than 32 in a single NHL season (2019-20 in 69 games). He has 177 shots on goal, 27 short of what he had in 82 games last season (204).

"I think him putting the puck to the net is a good thing," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "I think he has an elite shot. He places it. Some people just shoot the puck and try to get it between the red pipes and there's other people who actually shoot it and know where it's going. He's one of those guys, so the fact that he's firing is a good thing."

Lafreniere made it 2-0 after scoring with 50 seconds left in the first period, connecting off his own rebound from the front of the net. It was his first goal since Dec. 27.

Oshie cut it to 2-1 at 11:03 of the second period.

A giveaway by Erik Gustafsson led to Washington keeping the puck in the zone. Oshie scored from in front when Dylan Strome's pass out of the left circle redirected into the net off his skate.

Lindgren made a sprawling glove save at 15:22 of the second on Chris Kreider's chance off his own rebound in front of the net during a Rangers' 5-on-3 power play to keep it 2-1.

 "I knew where Kreider was, pretty much right on top of the crease, right where he makes a living," Lindgren said. "He got a good shot on the first one and the second one it's just more of a reactionary save, that's all it was. Obviously, it came at a big time in the game."

Lindgren also robbed Jimmy Vesey at 6:25 of the third period after the Rangers forward stole the puck from Trevor van Riemsdyk and was 1-on-1 against the goalie from in front of the net.

He played three games against the Rangers this season and allowed four goals on 89 shots, including two on 27 in a 3-2 win in Washington on Saturday and a 31-save shutout in a 4-0 win here on Dec. 9.

"He's a battler," Carbery said. "He hasn't played a lot in the last few weeks with him being hurt, so we thought it was a good opportunity to go back with him. He's played great against the Rangers in the starts that he's played."

Shesterkin preserved the 2-1 lead by stopping Oshie on a power drive to the net at 11:30 of the third period. He also made a save hugging the bottom of the right post on a quick snap shot from Connor McMichael out of the right circle at 18:25.

Shesterkin ended the game with a save on Evgeny Kuznetsov directly off a Capitals face-off win with six seconds left.

Shesterkin lost his previous two starts to the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues by allowing a combined nine goals on 44 shots.

"I think it was important for Igor to give us a good game and I thought he did," Laviolette said. "He made big saves at the right time. We needed to get a win [today] to put that behind us and start to build something new here."

NOTES: Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Panarin's goal was his 400th point with the Rangers in 310 games (127 goals, 273 assists), the fastest player in team history to reach the milestone. … Kaapo Kakko returned for the Rangers after missing 21 games with a lower-body injury he sustained Nov. 27. The forward had two shots on goal in 16:04 of ice time.