Pavel Buchnevich scored a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots and the Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabers 3-2 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for Rangers, and Adam Fox had two assists. New York won for the fourth time in six games.
“It is good to have a victory today,” said Buchnevich. “We will take two points and continue like this.”
Shesterkin made eight saves in the first period, nine in the second and five in the third to beat the Sabers for the second time and improve to 5-7-1 this season.
“In the first period the first shot was not very good, but the guys recovered and helped me and we took care of business for the rest of the game,” said Shesterkin through a translator.
Sam Reinhart and Tobias Rieder scored for Buffalo, who lost four consecutive games (0-3-1) and nine of 11 (2-8-1). Carter Hutton finished with 16 saves and dropped to 1-6-1 this year.
“It was a very strong defensive game,” said Sabers coach Ralph Krueger. “Our attack, our power game just didn’t do what it should have done with the opportunity at the table, but we really did neutralize them well.”
Neither team had many chances in the third period. The Rangers managed just three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes, while the Sabers had two.
Buffalo pulled Hutton to an extra skater with about 1:40 left, but failed to equalize.
“We kind of doubled, didn’t break (mentality) and got the win,” said Fox. “They were in our zone, but not many Grade A (chances). When they did that, Shesty came great for us. “
Kreider made it 3-1 at 9:32 of the second by bringing the puck along the left side and, with defender Brandon Montour on top of it, fired a shot from above the left circle that hit Hutton high for his tenth goal.
Rieder pulled the Sabers back in one when his shot from inside the blue line crossed the traffic and passed Shesterkin with 3:39 remaining in the interim period for this quarter. It was his first goal since January 30 against New Jersey.
“We were lucky to get out of there 3-2,” said Rangers coach David Quinn. “We did better things in the third to give us a chance to win.”
Buchnevich put the Rangers on the scoreboard after 28 seconds. He received a long pass from Mika Zibanejad, skated while battling a defender and defeated Hutton. It was Buchnevich’s sixth of the season and third in his last seven games.
Reinhart equalized at Sabers just 27 seconds later. Victor Olofsson chased the puck on the right and sent a pass to Reinhart, who quickly scored Shesterkin’s goal for eighth.
The Rangers returned to the front at 2:36. After Zibanejad forced a turn near the right corner, Buchnevich picked up the puck, skated to the left side and kicked in the net. The puck hit Lafreniere’s right leg and scored the rookie’s third goal.
“I think we played well,” said Buchnevich of his speech. “I hope that we will continue to produce an offensive for our team and continue to win.”