Shesterkin makes 22 saves, Rangers top Devils to win 3rd straight

NEW YORK ––Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves and the New York Rangers avoided a season sweep at the hand of their cross-river rivals by defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for their third consecutive win.

The Rangers (31-35-9) won their third game in a row, all at home, and avoided a season sweep at the hand of their cross-river rivals after losing to New Jersey 6-3 on March 7 and by the same score on March 18.

The Rangers have already been eliminated from postseason contention.

“When you play a divisional opponent like Jersey there’s a storied rivalry there, and so when you have a spirited game like that and you win in your home building, it’s a good feeling,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “I’m happy for the players and also you get a sense of what the Garden is like when you compete hard and the fanbase values and they appreciate your work ethic and your competitive spirit out there. We certainly felt that tonight.”

Conor Sheary scored for a second straight game, and J.T. Miller, Jaroslav Chmelar and Mika Zibanejad also scored. Adam Fox had two assists.

In addition to the saves, Shesterkin fought Jacob Markstrom at 9:05 of the third period, with the Devils goalie coming down the ice to challenge him before both dropped the gloves.

“That was awesome,” Miller said. “We needed that. Just like little things like that. I mean, we’ve been playing well. Since the (Olympic) break we’ve liked a lot of our games, especially going back to the Toronto game (4-3 loss on March 25). We felt we deserved better there, so what is that, four in a row that we’ve liked now, especially at home. There hasn’t been, unfortunately, a lot to cheer about this year so to have a moment like that it’s really special and I’m glad the fans got it, but I’m happy for Igor.”

The Devils (38-34-2) moved closer to elimination with their second loss in three games and third in six. They are 10 points out of a wild-card position in the Eastern Conference with eight games to play.

Connor Brown scored and Markstrom made 19 saves.

“I thought we were outworked for sure,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought they played harder, played with more structure. We’ve been playing kind of a pretty loose game. It’s worked out in our favor a lot with our offense and things like that, and today was not a loose game. The Rangers came out and played hard, played with purpose.”

This is the first time this season the Rangers have won three games in a row on home ice.

They are 12-18-7 and have been shut out seven times at the Garden this season.

“We talked Day 1 about creating a winning culture and attitude and all the other words you want to use, the standard, but through all the ups and downs of a season, especially right now, you can see what you’re made of as a group,” Miller said. “We’re getting some new faces that are getting an opportunity and they’re playing really well and providing spark to our team. And when you get a moment like ‘Shesty’ has today for us it feels good. We want to keep playing and finish strong and have something to feel good about going into next season.”

Sheary gave New York a 1-0 lead at 8:14 of the first period when from the right face-off circle he deflected Tye Kartye’s shot from the right point down and past Markstrom with Miller battling with Jonas Siegenthaler in front of the goalie.

The Rangers extended the lead to 2-0 with Miller’s power-play goal at 13:39.

Zibanejad spun the puck back to Fox at the left point. Fox delivered a pass to Alexis Lafreniere at the bottom of the right circle. Lafreniere one-timed it to the front where Miller was positioned for a quick redirection into the net.

Brown scored on the power play 51 seconds into the second period for the Devils to make it 2-1.

Chmelar scored off his own rebound at 12:12 to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. He deflected Braden Schneider’s shot off Markstrom’s pads, got to the rebound on the left side and whacked it in with his backhand.

Zibanejad extended New York’s lead to 4-1 at 3:49 of the third period. He dashed to the front of the net, getting behind Jack Hughes and Siegenthaler, and redirected Gabe Perreault’s pass past Markstrom.

“At least three of those goals were wide-open backdoor tap-ins that just can’t happen,” Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “It’s a rivalry game and I don’t personally care where we’re at in the standings, that’s a game we leave here frustrated.”

NOTES: Fox has seven points (one goal, six assists) in a four-game point streak. Miller has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Fox had his 104th multipoint game, one shy of tying James Patrick for third most among defensemen in Rangers’ history.