Rangers take 3-1 win over New Jersey

In New York, the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin made 32 saves in a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

“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.”

New York improved to 35-15-5.

Mika Zibanejad scored in the opening period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

“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 was the lone New Jersey striker, his goal tied the game, 1-1, in the first period.

“Shesterkin had a great game,” New Jersey 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.”

New Jersey fell to 19-31-5.

“Really, that’s what it was,” Ruff 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.”

Filip Chytil struck for a goal in the middle frame to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

“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.