In New York, the line of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, and Kaapo Kakko stepped up on Monday night.
Lafreniere and Chytil collected a goal each and two points on the night, and Kakko kicked in two assists in a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
New York’s Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad bookended a goal from Carter Verhaeghe in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the middle frame.
“I think we were just getting to open areas for each other,” Fox said. “The big thing on a couple of those goals was spread the ice, spread them out, open things up and got some good looks from that.”
Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves in the win.
“We played a smart game,” Shesterkin said. “I saw all the shots. It’s easy when you see the puck.”
The Rangers improved to 26-14-7.
Jimmy Vesey pushed the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 in the middle frame with a goal at 15:03, the goal was a result of the Rangers going to the net which was a theme of the night’s efforts.
“It’s always good when the puck is going in with not many shots on net, so of course it’s better for our mood, excited, energy coming,” New York’s Artemi Panarin said. “That’s always nice when you shoot a few and score a few. That happens sometimes.”
The Rangers were outshot by the Panthers, 14-7, in the second period but relied on Shesterkin to keep them in the game.
“I thought we had the upper hand, to be honest, most of the game, they just capitalized on most of their opportunities, and we unfortunately did not,” Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. “I liked some chances that we had; it just didn’t go across the line.”
Lafreniere batted in a loose puck in the crease on another scramble in the low slot for a 4-1 advantage in the third period.
“I think we had a pretty good shift and I just saw the puck by the goal line, just pushed it in,” Lafreniere said. “Hopefully it gets me going a little bit.”
Florida dropped to 23-21-5.
“We got into tonight in great shape by some great play, and we were a little off on our execution and it’s because we’re a little behind it now, we’re a little gassed,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But I think tomorrow we come out with even more energy. I think tomorrow is the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ll get two days off, and that hasn’t happened since the start of the month. And after tomorrow we’ve got 20 home games left, so we’ll get them rested and ready to go.”
Zibanejad put the game away off a rush just 14 seconds after the Lafreniere goal for a 5-1 lead.
The Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov scored at 11:02 to cut into the deficit at 5-2.
“[Shesterkin] made some saves, but I think some of our best offense we never even got to the net,” Maurice said. “I don’t think the hands were easy to find tonight, so you get behind it and you’re chasing it.”
Chytil scored into an empty net off a feed from the left boards by Kakko, for the 6-2 final.
Shesterkin missed a goal by about a foot to the left of the cage in the third period.
“Before that shot I felt I would get a chance, but ‘Lindy’ [defenseman Ryan Lindgren] told me I cannot score before him,” Shesterkin said, laughing. “Maybe next time a lucky bounce.”
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Alex Lyon made 20 saves in the loss.
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