Shorthanded goals, Georgiev pace Rangers past Devils

Mika Zibanejad and Jesper Fast scored shorthanded goals in the third period and Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves as the New York Rangers recorded a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon in Newark, N.J. The Rangers improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games and 10-4-2 in their last 16, with Zibanejad missing a significant amount of that stretch with an upper-body injury.

New York overcame being penalized for 34 minutes and scored two shorthanded goals for the first time since Nov. 5, 2016, against Boston. Zibanejad scored his second goal since returning on Wednesday while the Rangers were killing off a double-minor for high sticking that was assessed to defenseman Libor Hajek when his stick drew blood from near Wayne Simmonds' right eye late in the second.

Zibanejad scored after forcing a giveaway by Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen near the neutral zone. Brendan Lemieux recovered the puck, got by Vatanen and fed Zibanejad at the left side of the crease for his sixth career shorthanded goal with 17:25 remaining. With 14:39 remaining, the Devils had a five-minute power play when Chris Kreider was assessed a five-minute major for boarding Matt Tennyson. Kreider also received a game misconduct for fighting New Jersey's Kevin Rooney.

Moments after Taylor Hall was unable to connect a pass with Kyle Palmieri, the Rangers gained possession along the half boards and quickly moved the puck into the offensive zone. Zibanejad faked a shot, then threaded a pass through the slot to Jacob Trouba. The defenseman gave the puck to Fast, who lifted a shot from the left circle into the net.

Defenseman Adam Fox scored a power-play goal in the first period to help Georgiev notch his third career shutout. Georgiev made seven saves during New Jersey's eight power plays, including four during the double-minor to Hajek. Brady Skjei added an empty-goal with 2:42 remaining during a 4-on-4 as he scored while attempting to clear the puck out of the defensive zone.

The Devils dropped to 7-2-1 in their last 10 home meetings with the Rangers and were booed during numerous power plays. Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 19 saves for New Jersey, which saw rookie Jack Hughes miss his first game due to a lower-body injury he sustained while blocking a shot Thursday in Montreal.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)