Roundup: Igor Shesterkin secures fourth shutout as Rangers top Islanders

Will Cuylle and Will Borgen scored in the first period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 21 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat the crosstown-rival Islanders 4-0.

featured-image

NEW YORK — Will Cuylle and Will Borgen scored in the first period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 21 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat the crosstown-rival Islanders 4-0. J.T.

Miller and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who have won four of five and got their second shutout in two nights. Ilya Sorokin finished with 22 saves for the Islanders, who have lost five of seven. The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a lucky bounce with 4:57 left in the first period.



Zac Jones fired a shot from the point that was deflected by the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri up in the air and bounced off Cuylle’s helmet and in with Sorokin sliding to his right. Borgen doubled the lead with a short-handed goal with 45 seconds left in the opening period as he got a drop pass from Sam Carrick and fired it past Sorokin for his fourth of the season. CAPITALS 5, SENATORS 4 SO WASHINGTON — Tom Wilson fought Brady Tkachuk late in the first period, scored on the power play in the second and assisted on Martin Fehervary’s goal in the third to help the Washington Capitals end their season-worst losing streak at three games by beating the Ottawa Senators 5-4 on Monday night in a shootout.

Wilson finished off his “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” — a goal, an assist and a fight — by setting up Fehervary with 7:17 left in regulation. Tkachuk tied it with 1:08 left with a 6-on-4 goal to get the Senators a point. The Capitals killed off their seventh minor penalty of the game in overtime when they were whistled for too many men on the ice.

Dylan Strome scored the lone goal in the shootout to rescue the Eastern Conference leaders, who had blown a 3-0 lead. Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and two assists, Connor McMichael scored and Logan Thompson made 33 saves in regulation and OT and was perfect in the shootout for his 26th victory of the season. Alex Ovechkin remains 10 goals from tying the NHL career record.

The Senators lost for the sixth time in seven games despite two goals from Shane Pinto, one from Claude Giroux and 37 saves by Linus Ullmark. Read more. CANADIENS 4, SABRES 3, OT MONTREAL — Mike Matheson scored at 1:21 of overtime to lift surging Montreal to a win over Buffalo.

Nick Suzuki had a goal and three assists for the Canadiens who, despite blowing a 3-0 lead, rallied for their fifth consecutive victory. Cole Caufield — with his team-leading 30th of the season — and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for Montreal. Sam Montembeault made 33 saves.

The Canadiens beat the Sabres 4-2 in Buffalo on Saturday. Rasmus Dahlin scored the equalizer with 61 seconds remaining in regulation, while Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson also scored for Buffalo and James Reimer stopped 16 shots. The Sabres lost their third in a row.

The Canadiens (65 points) improved to within a point of a wild-card playoff position. The Sabres, meanwhile, rank last in the Eastern Conference. Read more.

PANTHERS 2, LIGHTNING 1 SUNRISE, Fla. — Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the second period, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots, and Florida beat their in-state rival Tampa Bay. The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers won their fourth straight game, while the Lightning had their eight-game winning streak snapped.

Tampa Bay hadn’t lost a game since Feb. 1. Brayden Point got the Lightning on the board with his team-leading 32nd goal of the season early in the third.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves. The Panthers lead the regular-season series 2-1. Tampa Bay will host the final meeting of the regular season on April 15.

Read more..