Georgiev, Rangers use special teams to shut out Devils

NEWARK, N.J. --Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and the New York Rangers extended their point streak to five games with a 4-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Mika Zibanejad and Jesper Fast each scored a shorthanded goal, and Adam Fox scored a power-play goal for the Rangers (13-9-3), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games and 8-3-2 in their past 13.
"It was a pretty good game for us," Georgiev said. "We got the lead early. We played a pretty simple game. We didn't let them have too much. We had quite a bit of penalties today but at the same time guys played great (on the) PK today."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Devils highlights]
Georgiev, who was making his first start in four games, earned the third shutout of his career and first since a 3-0 win (29 saves) at the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31.
"[Georgiev] was big; he stood tall," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "When you look at it, 4-0 and you kill that many penalties, your goalie needs to be good and he was good when he needed to be.
"In the first period we did a lot of good things but unfortunately some turnovers ignited some of their opportunities on the rush, but Georgie had a big part in this win, that's for sure."

Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves for the Devils (9-12-4), who went 0-for-8 with seven shots on goal on the power play and were shut out for the fourth time this season.
"We just couldn't capitalize on chances and couldn't keep the puck out of our net on a few, too," Blackwood said. "They were a little sharper on their execution."
Fox scored his first NHL power-play goal on a wrist shot from the left post off a pass from Kaapo Kakko at 12:45 of the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Zibanejad scored shorthanded on a breakout with Brendan Lemieux at 2:35 of the third period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
"It was basically a 2-on-2, and they're kind of coming at us and it's a bad gap," Zibanejad said. "You see an opportunity and why not? It's got to be the right time obviously. I got a great pass from Brendan."
Fast scored the second shorthanded goal of the game for the Rangers on a 3-on-1 at 5:52 of the third for a 3-0 advantage.

"Our breakouts (on the power play) were a little disorganized," Devils left wing Taylor Hall said. "When we did get shots, it felt like the goalie saw it. We had some zone time but probably not as many attempts and shots from in-tight as you'd want. You get two shorties scored on you, you're not going to win at all, so that's your game story. It was a terrible performance on the power play."
Skjei scored into an empty net at 17:18 for the 4-0 final.
"We stayed with our structure and didn't give them that many chances," Zibanejad said. "We stayed compact and really made it hard for them to get the Grade-A chances."

They said it

"It feels much better when you don't play that many games to get yourself a bit of confidence with a good game. The guys helped me a lot today. I just came out like always, was confident. Trust the guys and trust yourself. It's a lot about mindset. You don't play that much, so maybe you get to work more in practice. You have to be sharp and ready to play." -- Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev
"We've been playing this game for a long time and as NHL players and pros you have to deal with momentum swings and have to deal with adversity. Not everything is going to go your way but we had a prime opportunity there with a five-minute major down by one to score and get momentum and really we drained all the life out of the building, the team. We need to see much, much better." -- Devils left wing Taylor Hall

Need to know

Zibanejad led all skaters with five shots on goal and 12 face-off wins (12-for-19; 63.2 percent) in 20:39 of ice time. He tied the team's single-game record with two shorthanded points (last done by Derek Stepan, March 30, 2014). ... Fox has scored a point in four of his past five games (two goals, three assists). ... Chytil, who went 5-for-10 on face-offs, was playing in his 100th NHL game, all with the Rangers. ... The Devils were without rookie center Jack Hughes, who is day to day after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 6-4 win at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. ... New Jersey is 4-4-0 in its past eight games.

What's next

Rangers:Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, MSG 2, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Devils:At the Buffalo Sabres on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, MSG+, NHL.TV)