Antti Raanta made 22 saves for his fourth career shutout in his Rangers debut to lead New York to a 4-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
Marc Staal, Mats Zuccarello, Jesper Fast and Viktor Stalberg scored for New York, who snapped a three game winless streak (0-2-1) after opening the season with three wins.
Raanta was playing for the first time since being acquired from Chicago in a draft-day trade in June.
Photo: AP
Martin Jones finished with 24 saves in his first loss of the season as the Sharks lost their second straight after opening the season with four wins. Jones had allowed just two goals in the Sharks season-opening winning streak and came in leading the NHL in goals-against average (0.49), save percentage (.982) and shutouts (2).
Alain Vigneault opted to keep the same forward lines and defense pairings that could only score once in the Rangers’ 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Vigneault’s gambit paid immediate dividends as Staal scored his first of the season 10 minutes, 36 seconds into the game. Staal’s point shot appeared to ricochet off of Joel Ward.
New York continued to attack in what was the Rangers’ most complete performance of the season.
While Raanta did not have to work especially hard, his toughest stop occurred early in the second period as New York was killing a five-on-three Sharks power play. San Jose center Joe Thornton attempted a quick shot from along the goal-line as Patrick Marleau drove the net, but Raanta kicked the puck away.
The save was significant when Zuccarello scored his fourth of the season later in the period. With Rick Nash screening Jones, Zuccarello whipped a shot from the right side into the net.
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