Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for his second shutout of the season, leading the New York Rangers to a 5-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night.
Georgiev, who previously earned a shutout against New Jersey on Nov. 30, has been in top form, making his fourth start in five games. The 23-year-old netminder now has four career shutouts.
Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, Jesper Fast, and Mika Zibanejad all found the back of the net for the Rangers.
The Golden Knights, who hadn’t been shut out since Feb. 18 against Colorado, saw their streak of scoring in 52 straight regulation games come to an end. Vegas entered the game with the third-longest active scoring streak in the NHL, behind Boston (84 games) and Florida (56).
Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban, making his seventh consecutive start, stopped 20 shots in the loss. The Golden Knights also snapped their five-game point streak, dropping to 7-6-3 at home this season.
New York wasted no time getting on the board. Just 4:08 into the game, defenseman Tony DeAngelo executed a slick spin move near the blue line before setting up Marc Staal, who passed the puck to Panarin. The Rangers’ star forward fired a wrist shot past Subban to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Only 14 seconds later, Kreider doubled the lead, finishing a cross-ice feed from Ryan Strome with a shot past Subban’s skate to make it 2-0.
Vegas found themselves in trouble early in the second period when Ryan Reaves was hit with a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Brendan Lemieux. The Rangers capitalized quickly, as Trouba knocked in a loose puck to put New York up 3-0 at 7:14 of the second.
Trouba then set up Fast for another goal, assisting on a shot that beat Subban and extended the Rangers’ lead to 4-0.
Vegas suffered another blow late in the second period when rookie Cody Glass was injured after a hit from Lemieux. Glass, the Golden Knights’ first-ever draft pick, left the ice in visible pain and did not return.
Zibanejad sealed the win with a goal in the third period, credited after the puck deflected off Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Subban, making it 5-0 with less than five minutes remaining.
Game Notes:
- Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant noted that Marc-Andre Fleury, having recently returned to the team after the death of his father, needed more time before resuming his starting duties.
- Country music star Shania Twain helped kick off the pregame festivities by cranking the Golden Knights’ pregame siren.
- The Rangers have been dominant against Pacific Division teams since the 2014-15 season, boasting a 48-21-10 record.
- Lemieux played in his 100th career NHL game.
UP NEXT:
- Rangers: Continue their four-game road trip in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
- Golden Knights: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
