RANGERS ROLL
Georgiev stops 29 shots in shutout of the Islanders
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 29 shots for his first career shutout, Filip Chytil scored for the fifth straight game, and the Rangers beat the crosstown-rival Islanders 5-0 on Wednesday night.
Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist, and Cody McLeod, Neal Pionk and Kevin Hayes also scored to help the Rangers win for the ninth time in 11 games (9-1-1). Kevin Shattenkirk and Mika Zibanejad each added two assists in the Rangers' seventh straight win at home, now by a combined 26-10 margin.
The Rangers ended an eight-game skid (0-7-1) to the Islanders, who had won 12 of the previous 13 meetings, including a 7-5 win at home last Thursday night.
Robin Lehner finished with 22 saves for the Islanders, losers of five of their last seven (2-4-1). They also lost to a Metropolitan Division opponent for the first time after starting the season 7-0-0.
Georgiev, 7-6-1 in 15 career games coming in, made several nice stops, including 13 saves in the third period while winning his fourth straight start.
Kreider beat Lehner from the left circle on a rush with 3:41 left for his team-leading 12th to cap the scoring.
The Rangers led 3-0 after one period, and neither team could muster anything for most of the second until Hayes added to the advantage. Shattenkirk dropped the puck for Hayes at the top of the left circle, and Hayes skated in, cut across the front of the goal and beat Lehner with a backhand for his fifth with 2:43 left.
Both teams finished with five shots on goal in the middle period. The Islanders had seven shots go wide, and the Rangers had one.
Chytil extended his streak and got the Rangers started in the opening minute of the game. On a 2-on-1 rush with Kreider, he was skating up the right side and tried to send a pass across the front of the goal to his teammate, but the puck deflected off Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock back to Chytil and he beat Lehner 29 seconds in.
McLeod got his first since being claimed off waivers by the Rangers on Jan. 25 last season, doubling the lead at 3:30. Tony DeAngelo fired a long shot from the right point in front of the blue line, and McLeod deflected it in the air with his stick past Lehner.
The Rangers also led 2-0 less than six minutes in last week in Brooklyn before the Islanders tied it with two goals late in the opening period and went on to the win. There was no comeback this time.
Pionk made it 3-0 on the power play at 8:04. He took a pass from Vladislav Namestnikov and fired a one-timer from center point that beat a screened Lehner on the blocker side for his fourth. It gave Pionk five points (one goal, four assists) in his last five games.
Devils 5, Canadiens 2
The Devils caught a break. A few days after finding the back of the net just once in 34 tries against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Devils returned home and hung five on Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-2 win Wednesday night.
It was the second straight five-goal start for Price but for the Devils (9-9-2), it had been a little longer. It was just the third time this season they matched their seasonhigh and the first time in five games they scored more than four. Pavel Zacha scored twice, including once on the power play to halt the Devils' streak of games without a power-play goal at seven.
The top line of Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri also scored for New Jersey and Keith Kinkaid made 24 saves.
Zacha scored his fourth goal in three games as time wound down on the Devils' first power play in the second period by finishing off a 2on-1 to give the Devils a 5-1 lead. It's the type of chance Zacha had previously been looking for before his demotion to the American Hockey League earlier this month but not the necessarily type he focused on when in Binghamton.