Shesterkin makes 26 saves, Rangers shut out Blues

NEW YORK -- Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for the New York Rangers in a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

It was Shesterkin's second shutout of the season and 13th in the NHL.

"When he's on top of his game, there's not a goalie in the League better than him," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. "In 200 games, you're not going to be perfect for all of them, but even when he's not perfect, he's a pretty good goalie, too. We try and help him out as much as we can. He bails us out a lot. So, you know, it's not surprising how many wins he has early into his career."

Shesterkin, who made 14 saves in the first period, earned his 126th win in his 200th NHL game. Only two goalies in NHL history have had at least that many in their first 200 games: Bill Durnan (134) and Michel Larocque (127).

"He's been really dialed lately in the last 45 days or so, but watching him his whole career, just an elite goaltender," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "I knew about the 200 (games), but I did not know about the number before it. That's a pretty remarkable number and stat ... That speaks volumes to him."

Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko each scored a power-play goal for the Rangers (41-18-4), who had lost two straight. Alex Wennberg had an assist in his first game for New York after he was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

"It's a dream come true playing as an away team (at Madison Square Garden), but being on the home team, Saturday night, and getting the win, can it get better than that? No," Wennberg said. "The first couple of shifts, maybe a little rusty, but for me, it felt great. Obviously, coming to a great team as well. At the end of the day, all that matters is the win and the points."

Jordan Binnington made 35 saves for the Blues (32-29-3), who lost their third straight game.

"We're not scoring," St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn said. "… If you're losing, you at least want to go down swinging, and right now, we're just not generating enough offensively."

Trocheck gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 5:51 of the first period with a redirection in the slot of Artemi Panarin's shot on the power play.

Jimmy Vesey made it 2-0 at 19:37, scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle on a breakaway off a stretch pass from Barclay Goodrow.

"I thought we came out great," Vesey said. "Started the game really well I thought. Obviously, it was nice to get the first goal and then be up two after one. I thought it was a good team effort."

Matt Rempe appeared to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead at 7:39 of the second period, but a video review determined the puck did not completely cross the goal line.

Kreider did make it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 6:23 of the third period, scoring with a backhand at the right post after Panarin’s shot from the high slot caromed back off the end boards.

New York was 3-for-6 on the power play.

"We took too many penalties," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "[The Rangers] are too skilled. Two of those penalties, we negated our own power play. When you give that team six power plays, they're going to capitalize, and they did."

Kakko scored to make it 4-0 at 11:23, putting in a rebound at the right post after Binnington saved Erik Gustafsson's shot from the high slot on the power play.

"I thought everybody played a pretty solid game tonight," Laviolette said. "… I thought the guys were sharp."

NOTES: Rangers forward Jack Roslovic also played his first game after being acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. He had two shots on goal in 16:21 of ice time. … Trocheck was playing in his 700th NHL game. He has 502 points (195 goals, 307 assists). … Kreider scored the 105th power-play goal of his career, one shy of Brian Leetch for third in Rangers history. … The Blues were 0-for-2 on the power play and are 2-for-24 in their past eight games.