Eagle eye keys Blueshirts’ early challenge

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Rangers coach Alain Vigneault at least owes a beer to his video coordinator, Jerry Dineen.

Vigneault’s team seemed to give up the first goal just 24 seconds into the game against the Jets on Sunday afternoon, when Tyler Myers beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist with a slap shot from the right circle. But Dineen called down and was adamant Winnipeg was offside coming into the zone.

Vigneault challenged, and won, taking the goal off the board.

“Jerry Dineen made a great call on the first denied goal on the offside,” Vigneault said after the Rangers’ 3-1 win. “It was hard for us to see on the bench. I thought even though they scored after that, we sort of settled down after that, we started making more plays with the puck, more efficient.”

Vigneault is now 4-for-6 on challenges this season. ➤ Backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec is set to miss two- to-three weeks with a sprained MCL in his knee, suffered in the first period of Friday’s 4-3 win over the Flames. Vigneault said this was supposed to be Pavelec’s game, going against an organization that he played for over his previous 10 season in the league.

Backing up Lundqvist was 22-year-old Alexan

dar Georgiev, who was called up from AHL Hartford on Saturday.

➤ Jimmy Vesey returned from a three-game absence because of a concussion and scored the game-winning goal off his arm.

Vesey was hurt when he was nailed with a headshot from the Predators’ Filip

Forsberg in Nashville on Feb. 3, drawing no penalty but earning Forsberg a three-game suspension. He returned to fully participate in practice Saturday, and then played 13:54 on a line with David Desharnais and Jesper Fast on Sunday. ➤ Captain Ryan McDon

agh missed his second straight game with his lingering upper-body issue, and did not make the trip, which heads to St. Paul, Minn. for a game against the Wild on Tuesday.