Rangers defeat St. Louis Blues 2-1

Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves, New York won the battle of special teams, and the Rangers defeated the host St. Louis Blues 2-1 on Monday. Lundqvist was dominant in goal, stopping 14 shots in a frantic third period, to win his 443rdcareer game. The victory moved him to within two wins of tying Terry Sawchuk for sixth on the NHL's all-time list. Mats Zuccarello scored a first-period power-play goal, and the Rangers were a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Boo Nieves also tallied for the Rangers, who won their second straight and have earned points in nine of their last 11 games. Ryan O'Reilly had a goal for the Blues, who had won six of nine, but have now fallen for two straight since that run.

Goalie Jake Allen started for the 12th consecutive time and made 21 saves after allowing four goals and being pulled in Saturday's 6-1 home loss to Pittsburgh. Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who played parts of seven seasons with the Blues, returned to action after missing seven games and to St. Louis for the first time as an opposing player since being traded to Washington in February of 2017. The Blues welcomed back fourth-line left wing Robby Fabbri, who missed 11 games, as both he and Shattenkirk were out with separated shoulders. St. Louis tallied first when O'Reilly scored on the club's fourth shot, finishing a give-and-go exchange with David Perron by blasting in his team-high 15th goal from above the left circle at 10:08.

After failing to score on two power plays, New York tied it at 1 when Zuccarello scored on the third man advantage after his shot struck Allen's right pad and trundled in with 20 seconds left in the period. Nieves backhanded a shot after a quick line change by the Rangers, and the puck struck a defender and went in for New York's first lead at 3:11 of the second period. It was the center's second goal of the season. Down 2-1 late in the third period, St. Louis pulled its goalie with 2:37 remaining to get the extra attacker on, but Lundqvist was a brick wall in multiple scrums as the Blues tried to tie it but failed to.

(With inputs from agencies.)