NEW YORK — The Rangers have made hay this season taking points off the weaker teams in the league. But this was different, as rivalry games always are.
"They're a good team,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of the across-the-Hudson River rivals, the Devils. "They play really well. They’re young, talented, they create a lot of offensive chances. They make some mistakes, too, and they give up some chances. But they're an exciting team. They play hard. They play well. … They’ve got lots of young skill and they're really taken advantage of it and they're a challenge. If you give them lots of opportunities offensively, they'll take advantage of that.’’
Well, the Rangers did give the Devils lots of opportunities offensively, but Igor Shesterkin was there to handle all of them. The odds-on favorite to win the Vezina Trophy for being the best goalie in the NHL was on his game again, making 32 saves to help the Rangers to a 3-1 victory, their eighth straight win in the Battle of the Hudson. The victory was the 27th of the season for Shesterkin, who improved to 27-6-3.
Filip Chytil’s second-period goal was the game-winner and Chris Kreider’s 36th goal of the season, at 11:23 of the third period, provided insurance as the Rangers won their second straight game and improved to 35-15-5 in their final game before heading off to a four-game road trip. They will play Sunday in Winnipeg, and then go to Minnesota, St. Louis and Dallas in their last long trip of the season.
Mika Zibanejad gave the Rangers the lead when he coolly fished the puck out of a scrum in front of Devils goalie Nico Daws and tucked it behind him for his 21st goal at 11:11 of the first period.
But the Devils tied it on a goal by Nico Hischier at 13:56 when the Devils captain drove up the middle, split two defenders, and beat Shesterkin over the glove for his 16th goal of the season. For Hischier, the goal made up for his being stoned by Shesterkin on a shot and rebound shot a few minutes earlier.
The period finished 1-1, but Rangers fans got to see a very satisfying fight at the end of the period between Barclay Goodrow and P.K. Subban. Subban’s name has been mud among the Rangers faithful after his slew-foot trip of Sammy Blais the last time the teams played, in November, led to Blais suffering a torn ACL.
The Devils defenseman was booed by the Garden fans when he stepped onto the ice for his first shift, and in the final minute of the first period, Goodrow checked Subban behind the Devils’ net and then challenged him to a fight. Subban accepted the challenge, and Goodrow ended up dropping him to the ice in a relatively short encounter.
In the second period, the Devils had the better of the play, but it was the Rangers who got the only goal, a wrist shot from Chytil at 8:57 off a drop pass from Ryan Lindgren. The goal was Chytil’s sixth of the season, his first since Feb. 15, second since Jan. 15 and his first since re-entering the lineup after being scratched for two games last weekend.
Shesterkin was his usual brilliant self making the type of otherworldly stops he’s been making all season. He stopped 20 of 21 shots in the first two periods as the scrappy Devils, tilted the ice in their favor.
