NEW YORK – J.T. Miller and Brady Skjei scored 3:50 apart late in the second period, Antti Raanta stopped 19 shots for his second straight shutout and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 5-0 on Sunday night.
Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Vesey also scored to give the Rangers their first three-game winning streak since Nov. 12-15.
Raanta, starting for the third time in four nights and coming off a 1-0 overtime win against Chicago on Friday, got his sixth career shutout and improved to 8-1-0 with a 1.65 goals-against average in 10 starts this season.
Cory Schneider finished with 25 saves for New Jersey, which lost its third straight. The Devils had an early goal disallowed after a review and another didn't count because it came after a whistle.
Miller extended the Rangers' lead to 2-0 with a short-handed goal with 3:53 left in the second. The Devils' Kyle Palmieri fell in the neutral zone trying to stop a clearing pass and the puck went to Kevin Hayes, who brought it toward the net. Hayes passed it to Miller, who tipped it in from the right side for his ninth.
Skjei got his first NHL goal with 2.5 seconds left in the middle period. Off a faceoff to Schneider's right, Derek Stepan tipped it to Skjei, who fired a slap shot past the goalie.
The Rangers outshot the Devils 11-3 in the second and had a 21-11 advantage through 40 minutes.
Pirri made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 6:04 of the third when he wristed it in from close after Kreider was stopped on two tries. It was Pirri's sixth of the season and first in 13 games.
Vesey capped the scoring with a power-goal, knocking in a rebound from the left side with 1:18 to go for his 10th.
With both teams playing for the third time in four nights, the Rangers controlled the puck for the better part of a slow first period in which they outshot the Devils 10-8.
Adam Henrique appeared to give the Devils the lead when he knocked in a rebound 1:09 into the game. However, the goal was disallowed after a review showed Henrique kicked the puck in. It was the second straight game the Rangers had an opponent's goal wiped out.
Kreider got New York on the scoreboard first, taking a pass from Mats Zuccarello in the right slot and shooting the puck through Schneider's five-hole for his eighth with 3:17 left in the first.
The Devils nearly tied it with about 1:20 remaining in the period. Raanta smothered a wrist shot by Sergey Kalinin, and Devante Smith-Pelley kept jabbing at the puck and knocked it in. The officials waved it off because the whistle had blown.
NOTES: Devils C Pavel Zacha missed his fourth straight game due to a facial laceration. ... New Jersey came in 7 for 27 on the power play over its previous nine games, but went 0 for 5 against the Rangers. ... The teams play again at Madison Square Garden next Sunday night. The remaining two games in the season series will be at Prudential Center, on Feb. 25 and March 21. ... Rangers starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist sat out while healthy in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 22-27, 2013, when Cam Talbot started. ... Rangers coach Alain Vigneault tied Tom Renney for fifth place on the franchise list with 164 wins. ... C Josh Jooris was claimed off waivers by Arizona earlier Sunday. Jooris had one goal and one assist in 12 games with the Rangers this season.
UP NEXT
Devils: At St. Louis on Thursday night in the second game of a stretch of four straight away from Prudential Center.
Rangers: Host Chicago on Tuesday night.
___
Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.