Alexandar Georgiev comes up big for Rangers in win over Buffalo

BUFFALO — If the NHL schedule-maker didn’t do the Rangers any favors by having them play the Colorado Avalanche in the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday at the Garden, then someone tried to make it up to the Blueshirts by scheduling them to visit the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

And 48 hours after their seven-game winning streak was snapped by the high-flying Avalanche, the Rangers got back on the winning track with a 2-1 victory over the struggling Sabres in a half-empty KeyBank Center.

This was not a game they could be particularly proud of, though. They were outplayed for most of the last two periods, and after holding a 2-0 lead late in the third, they were inches from being forced into overtime.

Victor Olofsson appeared to score what would have been the tying goal with 56.2 seconds remaining in regulation, but the goal was overturned because Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin was found to be offside as the Sabres entered the Rangers’ zone.

"It’s a relief, obviously,’’ Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "But we knew it pretty early. We came back to the bench and checked the offside earlier than it came back [on video review]. So we knew. And then that, when you get a second chance, then you just got to make sure that you stop the puck from going in again. And we got it done. So we leave Buffalo with two points, and we’re happy about the points.’’

The Rangers (18-5-3) have 39 points, which is enough — with Washington losing to Pittsburgh on Friday — to have the Blueshirts in first place in the Metropolitan Division. They temporarily took over first place in the Eastern Conference standings before the Panthers (18-4-4) beat the Coyotes to reclaim the top spot.

The victory looked like some of the Rangers’ wins early in the season, when they were overly reliant on their goaltender to steal games for them. This time it was Alexandar Georgiev rather than Igor Shesterkin saving the team’s bacon. Georgiev, starting for the third time in four games since Shesterkin went on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, made 36 saves.

"Georgie was outstanding tonight,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. "He made some really top-end saves, Grade A chances. He was the difference for us.’’

Zibanejad’s first goal in 15 games and a goal by Alexis Lafreniere was all the offense the Rangers, who won for the 12th time in 14 games, could muster.

Coming off their 7-3 loss to Colorado on Wednesday, they took a 1-0 lead when Zibanejad scored a power-play goal at 4:48 of the first period. The Rangers dominated possession in the first and seemed as though they should have built a bigger lead.

Instead, they were fortunate that Georgiev, who struggled badly to start the season, has steadily grown in confidence and sharpness while being called on to play regularly with Shesterkin on injured reserve. There were times in the second period when he actually kept the Rangers in the game with some high-quality saves.

Lafreniere banged in the rebound of Adam Fox’s shot to make it 2-0 at 9:47 of the second period, but even then, the Rangers didn’t seem comfortable, and they never could put the Sabres away. Eventually, Brett Murray jammed one in off a goalmouth scramble with 5:23 remaining in the third period to get Buffalo on the board.

The Sabres pulled goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with 1:22 remaining and appeared to get the tying goal before video deprived them of it. Georgiev didn’t apologize for it.

"A little bit of luck,’’ he said. "You need that.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.