NEW YORK — A couple of days ago, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was asked if, given how tight the race is at the top of the Metropolitan Division, whether he and his team had a goal of trying to win the division.
"I want to win games,’’ Gallant said. "I mean, I want to win the division. You know, it's a battle to do that, so you’ve got to play every night and then get as many points as you can. I don't worry about the playoffs unless you get there.’’
At the rate they are going, the Rangers look like they’ll get there, all right. And the way they looked Thursday against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden, there’s no reason to think they can’t win the division, too.
Playing a Capitals team that began the night four points behind them in the standings, the Rangers got a goal from each member of their first line, one from the fourth line, and another superb performance from goaltender Igor Shesterkin as they beat Washington, 4-1, to earn their 33rd victory of the season.
The Rangers moved ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and into second place in the division. The Rangers and Penguins will play each other for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Shesterkin made 36 saves and won his 25th game of the season (25-5-3) as the Rangers improved to 33-13-5. They have 71 points, one more than Pittsburgh, which lost, 6-1, to the Devils on Thursday, and three fewer than division-leader Carolina.
The Rangers got goals from Mika Zibanejad in the first period, Alexis Lafreniere in the second and Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow in the third. For Kreider, the goal at 6:57 of the third was his first since the Rangers returned from the All-Star break, and his 34th on the season. He is third in the race for most goals in the NHL.
Alexander Ovechkin, who is fourth in goals scored, got his 32nd of the season for the Caps with 1:02 left. The goal increased Ovechkin's career total to 762, four short of Jaromir Jagr for third all time.
Tom Wilson, Public Enemy No. 1 for the Rangers last spring, was back at the Garden for the first time since May 5, two days after he body-slammed a helmetless Artemi Panarin in a game against a Blueshirts team that was playing out the string at the end of the 2020-21 season.
That night, Wilson fought then-Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith, one of six fights in the Capitals’ 4-2 victory in a game that saw three simultaneous fights as soon as the puck was dropped for the opening faceoff.
At the time, the Rangers were incensed that Wilson, a repeat offender who had been suspended by the NHL five times for violent acts on the ice, was not suspended for his attack on Panarin. The league instead fined Wilson $5,000 for what he did to Pavel Buchnevich, punching him while he was lying face down on the ice.
On Thursday, though, the Rangers didn’t seem to care that Wilson was at the game. The fans booed loudly when he stepped on the ice for his first shift, but that was it.
"I really think there's nothing,’’ Gallant said of the Rangers’ history with Wilson. "It's just, it's another game against a team that's a rival, a division opponent that's just a few points behind us. And that's what's important.’’
The Rangers got on the board first when Lafreniere dropped a pass to Zibanejad in the right circle and Zibanejad blasted a one-timer through Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov at 12:57 of the first period. The goal was Zibanejad’s 20th of the season, his fourth in the last six games and his fifth in his last 10 against Washington.
Lafreniere made it 2-0 when he tipped a left point shot by Ryan Lindgren past Samsonov at 18:48 of the second period. The goal was Lafreniere’s 11th of the season and his third in seven games while playing with Zibanejad and Kreider on the top line.
