Derek Stepan assists on all three goals as Rangers shut out Flyers

The Rangers may not be able to beat Tampa Bay, but they certainly have the Flyers' number.

Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist to reach the 1,000-point mark Friday as the Rangers blanked the struggling Flyers for the second time in 10 days, 3-0.

Cam Talbot stopped 26 shots for his second straight shutout. He had turned aside 31 shots in a 2-0 win over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 19.

In yesterday's matinee win, the Rangers scored in all manner of ways -- Dan Boyle on the power play, St. Louis at even strength and Rick Nash shorthanded (his 16th goal of the season) -- to salt the game away early in the third period.

"The penalty kill [5-for-5] did a good job, scored a key goal, and that was probably the difference in tonight's game," coach Alain Vigneault said. "We were able to get some timely goals, and when we had some breakdowns, we had some big blocked shots and big saves from our goalie."

It was Talbot's fifth shutout in 24 starts in the past two seasons. "Guys played great in front of me again tonight," Talbot said. "Most of the shots were from the outside. They didn't get too many rebound opportunities. They did another great job of tying up sticks and taking away the big guys in front of the net."

The Rangers (10-8-4) will host the Flyers, who are 1-6-1 in their last eight, Saturday afternoon.

St. Louis' goal, which put the Rangers ahead 2-0, came at 16:19 of the second period. Flyers goalie Steve Mason left the rebound of Derek Stepan's shot in front, and St. Louis pounced on it. It was St. Louis' ninth goal of the season and Stepan's second of three assists. Stepan has a five-game point streak.

"To get 1,000, yeah, it's a great accomplishment. I'm not going to hide my feelings. I'm proud of that," St. Louis said. "To do it on a win, on a goal, I think it makes it special. But we've got to finish the job [Saturday]."

The right wing, 39, is the sixth player to reach 1,000 points as a Ranger, joining Rod Gilbert, Mike Gartner, Steve Larmer, Pat LaFontaine and Theo Fleury. He is the 81st player in NHL history to reach that number.

"He's set a great example throughout his career and all his teammates are really happy for him," Vigneault said.

Boyle's second goal in two games, a one-timer from the left point with Zac Rinaldo in the box, provided a 1-0 lead at 6:10 of the first period. Stepan set up Boyle with a cross-ice pass and St. Louis received the second assist.

The crusher came in the third period when the Flyers had a four-minute power play with Chris Kreider off for high-sticking Sean Couturier. The Rangers broke out on a three-on-one and Stepan found Nash, who beat Mason at 5:30.

The booing at Wells Fargo Center reached its peak at that point, as it was all but certain that the Flyers would fall to 8-11-3.

"I thought we played well, but we took too many penalties," said Ryan McDonagh, who played for the first time since Nov. 1, when a check from Winnipeg's Evander Kane separated his shoulder. "We've got to cut down on that."