Georgiev’s 55 saves help Rangers past Leafs

After his team allowed 56 shots on goal, Rangers coach David Quinn thought the defence was pretty good.

He had Alexandar Georgiev to thank for that.

Georgiev had a career-high 55 saves to lead New York over the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Sunday night. Georgiev had the second-most saves in a regular-season game in franchise history. Mike Richter has the record with 59 on Jan. 31, 1991.

“He played outstanding. He’s getting better and better,” Quinn said of his second-year goalie on his 23rd birthday.

“It was a special birthday,” Georgiev said. “I tried not to concentrate on the birthday wishes. I knew I had an important game in front of me. I’m very happy it ended the way it ended.”

Mika Zibanejad, Jimmy Vesey and Adam McQuaid scored for the Rangers, who finished their five-game homestand at 2-2-1.

“Sometimes you need a performance like this and he came up big for us, gave us a chance,” Zibanejad said of Georgiev.

Kevin Hayes added an empty-netter, and Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider each had two assists.

Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Maple Leafs, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

“We played a pretty good game,” Kapanen said. “Their goalie made 55 saves. He played a tremendous game. That’s just hockey.”

Toronto had a season-high 56 shots, forcing Georgiev to be at his best throughout. He is the seventh goalie in franchise history with 50 or more saves in a game. The previous goalie to do it was Henrik Lundqvist last year — also on his birthday.