Shesterkin makes 21 saves, Rangers shut out Islanders

NEW YORK -- Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves and the New York Rangers got their second straight shutout win, 4-0 against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

The Rangers also defeated the Nashville Predators 4-0 on Sunday behind 34 saves from Jonathan Quick. It's the seventh time in team history they've recorded shutout wins on consecutive days.

"It feels like we're playing a better brand of hockey, more consistent 60 minutes aside from that third period against Nashville," Rangers forward Will Cuylle said. "Two shutouts in a row speaks for itself. I think we're all making a pretty strong commitment to defense and obviously defense wins hockey games so we're going to keep trying to do that."

Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist. Will Borgen scored his first career short-handed goal. Shesterkin got his fourth shutout of the season.

The Rangers (31-26-4) have won four of five games. They are tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They each have 66 points.

"We give ourselves a chance to win," Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad said. "I don't think we shoot ourselves in the foot in the same way we've maybe done it before. … We're playing simple. I don't feel like we're panicking as much. If they have momentum, alright let's try to break it. Bend don't break. It doesn't hurt to have two elite goalies back there too."

Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves for the Islanders (27-26-7), who had won their previous two games.

They are five points out of a playoff spot and play the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets at UBS Arena on Tuesday.

"You never like coming into the room after a game like this and not putting anything on the board and losing a big hockey game," Islanders forward Anders Lee said. "So, it sits with you for sure. I mean, there's always a level of something that doesn't feel right. How do you individually and as a group come back together and continue to play the best that you can? That's what tomorrow night will bring."

Cuylle scored his goal off his head from in front of the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 15:03 of the first period.

"A real beauty," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said, smiling. "One he'll remember probably for the rest of his life."

Kyle Palmieri blocked Zac Jones' shot from the point. The puck popped up in the air, hit Cuylle on the right side of his head and went into the net.

"I was just trying to get to the net, get in the goalie's eyes and I think it just got blocked," Cuylle said. "I saw it coming so I just had to get my face out of the way and whatever happens happens."

The Rangers went up 2-0 on Borgen's short-handed goal at 19:15. Cuylle took a hit from Noah Dobson high in the Rangers' defensive zone but still made the play to push the puck up the ice and out of the zone to Sam Carrick.

"I didn't think he was going to hit me because it was short-handed," Cuylle said. "I thought he was going to pull out. Obviously, nice read by Sam there."

Carrick carried the puck into the left face-off circle before leaving it back for Borgen, who scored with a bar-down wrist shot into the short side.

"You love to see him jump up in a play like that and he has the skill," Laviolette said. "That was a great shot and a big goal at the time."

Miller made it 3-0 at 3:43 of the third period with a blocker-side wrist shot from the right circle. The play was a result of Tony DeAngelo's neutral zone turnover. It was Miller's fifth goal in as many games.

"The third goal was not a pretty one, but we didn't generate," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "I thought both teams didn't generate much offense all night long. We didn't play the type of hockey that I was expecting."

Panarin scored into the empty net with 5:09 remaining in the third period to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead.

"I thought we were really good," Laviolette said. "'Shesty', he was good, he made big saves when he needed to, but I thought we were good in front of him. Guys were heavy in front of him. Blocked shots, heavy on sticks, eliminated second opportunities. When it got scrambly right in the slot area I thought our guys cracked down hard and defended well."

NOTES: The Islanders had a would-be goal from Lee at 8:24 of the first taken away because of a successful coach's challenge from the Rangers for offside. Video replay showed Casey Cizikas preceded the puck into the zone 10 seconds before Lee scored. … Brock Nelson played his 900th game. The center is the fifth to play at least 900 games with the Islanders, joining Bryan Trottier (1,123), Denis Potvin (1,060), Josh Bailey (1,057) and Bobby Nystrom (900). ... Miller's two points extended his point streak to six games (10 points; five goals, five assists). ... Rangers forward Chris Kreider missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury.