DALLAS (AP) – Mika Zibanejad scored his 10th goal in five games to give him 40 for the season, impressive rookie Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves and the New York Rangers beat the skidding Dallas Stars 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Kaapo Kakko, another Rangers rookie, scored twice in the second period for his first goals in a month. Adam Fox also had a goal as New York built a 4-0 cushion and won for the 10th time in its last 11 road games.
Shesterkin improved to 10-2 in 12 NHL games, bouncing back from a disappointing home loss to last-place New Jersey on Saturday in his first game back from an upper-body injury sustained in a car accident.
Roope Hintz had a power-play goal and Andrew Cogliano also scored in the third period – the first goals in three games for a Dallas team that dropped to 0-4-2 in its past six. Miro Heiskanen assisted on both.
Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots for the Stars.
Fox and Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who remained three points out of a playoff spot in the crowded Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Fox scored on the Rangers’ first shot 19 seconds into the game. The defenseman took a pass from Artemi Panarin in the slot and sent the puck into the left side of the net.
Zibanejad increased the lead to 2-0 at 10:12 of the first period. Brendan Lemieux skated left of the net and passed from behind the goal line to Zibanejad for a snap shot that went over Bishop’s left shoulder.
It was Zibanejad’s 40th goal in only 56 games this season – he missed some time with an injury. He has scored in five straight games, including a five-goal outburst last week against Washington.
Shesterkin stopped a breakaway by Mattias Janmark and a shot from Blake Comeau on an odd-man rush in the first.
New York extended its lead in the second period.
Jesper Fast sent a backhand pass to Brett Howden in the left circle and he passed to Kakko in the slot for a snap shot at 7:03. On Kakko’s second goal, he took a loose puck at the left of the net, skated around a fallen Bishop and backhanded the puck across the goal line.
Dallas had a 20-19 advantage in shots on goal through two periods, but New York led 4-0.
The Stars finally scored after a drought of 175:49 when Hintz put a snap shot into the upper right corner from low in the slot at 1:23. Cogliano put in the rebound of a shot by Heiskanen at 11:52.
NOTES: Zibanejad has 12 points in his last five games to tie his career high with 74. Zibanejad had a six-game goal streak between Feb. 19 and 27. . The entire Dallas team has only nine goals in the last five games. . Cogliano scored for the first time in 35 games. . The 19-year-old Kakko, the second overall pick in last year’s draft, scored his first goals in 15 games. He has 10 this season.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Go back-to-back on Wednesday at Colorado in the second stop on a three-game trip.
Stars: Play the third in a four-game homestand Thursday against Florida.
