Devils no match for Rangers and Igor

RANGERS 3 DEVILS 0

Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 shots in posting his first NHL shutout and the Rangers opened a four-game series against the Devils with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin scored and Adam Fox assisted on both goals as the Rangers improved to 10-4-3 since March 13. Pavel Buchnevich scored into an empty net with 28 seconds to play for the 20,000th goal in Rangers’ franchise history.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 17 shots as the young Devils fell to 2-7-2 in their last 11. Even the return of captain Nico Hischier from a broken nose that had sidelined him since Feb. 27 didn’t help.

The 25-year-old Shesterkin was on his game from the start, stopping a breakaway by Jesper Bratt in the opening 10 seconds and another by Devils top goal-scorer Miles Wood in the second period.

Zibanejad, who has 12 goals in his last 15 games, scored on a breakaway at 7:02 of a wideopen first period. The speedy center took a pass in center-ice, blew past the defense and beat Blackwood with a forehand over his glove hand.

After a very defensive middle period, Panarin gave the Rangers breathing room at 7:50 of the third with a goal from the left circle off a cross-ice pass by Filip Chytil.

Panarin’s goal came in his 100th game with the Rangers. It also gave him 138 points in those games, breaking the 100game mark of 137 set by Mark Messier.

The teams will play again on Thursday and Saturday at the Garden and return to Newark on Sunday for the final game of their eight-game regular-season series. The Rangers lead the series 3-2, having won the last three in Newark.

l Just days after helping the University of Massachusetts win the national championship, defenseman Zac Jones signed an entry-level contract with the Rangers.