Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin scored twice and Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves as the New York Rangers beat Pittsburgh 6-0 on Saturday for their second victory over the Penguins in three days.
Vladimir Tarasenko, Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba also scored for the Rangers, who have won nine of their last 11 home games and are 12-4-0 in their last 16 at Madison Square Garden.
Shesterkin won his fifth straight game and recorded his second shutout this season. He nimbly denied Pittsburgh forward Mikael Granland with a big save five minutes into the third quarter to preserve the shutout, the 10th of his career.
( Chris Kreider scores twice as Rangers defeat Penguins, 4-2 )
The Penguins lost their third straight game and are 12 points behind the Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Patrick Kane and defenseman K’Andre Miller also had two assists apiece as New York improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine home games against Pittsburgh. The Rangers are five points behind the second-place New Jersey Devils, who lost in Florida on Saturday.
Since Dec. 5, when they turned their season around with a 6-4 comeback at home over St. Louis, the Rangers are 29-9-5.
As he did on Thursday when Rangers beat Penguins 4-2, Zibanejad opened the scoring. He got his team-leading 36th goal at 5:10 of the first, past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. Trouba and Miller attended.
Panarin made it 2-0 at 19:49 on the power play, lobbing the puck past Jarry from the left circle off a pass from Adam Fox.
Tarasenko added to the lead at 3:54 of the second with his fifth goal since joining the Rangers in a trade with St. Louis on February 9. Tarasenko has points in 10 of his first 18 games with the Rangers.
Kreider made it 4-0 at 6:43 with his 31st goal and third in two games against the Penguins. Kane and Vincent Trocheck assisted on Kreider’s 260th career goal, moving the Rangers within two of Vic Hadfield for fifth on the franchise list.
New York won Thursday when Kreider scored the go-ahead goal in the third and added an empty net.
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After Casey DeSmith replaced Jarry in the net after Kreider’s goal, Trouba beat the replacement keeper with a sharp-angled shot at 8:39 for his eighth to increase the margin to 5-0. Trouba has points in six of his last eight games.
Panarin scored again at 16:38 of the second, his 22nd goal of the season, to make it 6-0, with assists from Kane and Filip Chytil.
Panarin has points in eight of his last 10 games and leads the Rangers with 77 points overall, while Kane has seven points in his last six games.
Zibanejad assisted on goals for Tarasenko and Trouba and has 25 points, including 14 goals, in his last 20 games.
NOTES: The Penguins were missing defenseman Jeff Petry after Rangers forward Tyler Motte elbowed him without a penalty Thursday. … Pittsburgh also cut defenseman Jan Rutta and forward Dalton Heinen and played defenseman Mark Friedman for the first time since Feb. 11. … The Rangers were without injured defenseman Ryan Lindgren for the 10th straight game.
( Patrick Kane has goal and assist as Rangers beat Capitals tonight Washington star Alex Ovechkin sits out due to injury )
Penguins: Host the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
Rangers: Host the Nashville Predators on Sunday night.
