Rangers shut out Flyers behind Kakko, Georgiev

Kaapo Kakko scored a pair of goals and Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp also scored for host New York, which has won four of five. Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba each had two assists.

The Rangers remained in second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind idle Carolina. The Hurricanes skated to a 4-2 win over the Rangers in New York on Tuesday night.

The Flyers have been outscored 18-5 while losing three in a row. Philadelphia entered 15th of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and was playing without several key regulars.

The Rangers improved to 24-15 on the road. They have seven games left to try to catch Carolina, including an April 26 matchup against the Hurricanes in New York.

Philadelphia is playing out a forgettable season. The Flyers' lineup is littered with AHL call-ups and recent draft picks. BLUE JACKETS 5, CANADIENS 1 >> Jack Roslovic scored twice, Patrik Laine had a goal and two assists and Columbus beat Montreal for its second straight win and a three-game season sweep of the Canadiens.

Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom each added a goal and an assist, and Gus Nyquist and Jakub Voracek both had two assists for Columbus at home. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 20 shots on his 28th birthday to help lead the Blue Jackets over Montreal for the seventh time in eight home meetings.

Ryan Poehling scored Montreal's lone goal and Sam Montembeault stopped 26 shots in the Canadiens' third straight loss.