Rangers collect their second straight shutout in 5-0 win over Canadiens

Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi summed up Sunday night's 5-0 win over the Canadiens, a game in which all four lines scored and supported each other defensively: "Everybody was really locked in and focused."

The rout at Madison Square Garden came after Wednesday's 2-0 defeat of the Flyers, a two-game shutout streak that Henrik Lundqvist described as "probably as good as we played all year."

No one could deny that.

Not only was it the first time the Rangers (9-7-4) had strung together two consecutive wins in regulation, the rested Blueshirts played a complete 60 minutes, even scoring twice in the third period.

Martin St. Louis, who hunted down a long pass, picked defenseman Alexei Emelin's pocket and juked goalie Dustin Tokarski on a breakaway to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead at 15:33 of the second period, also set up Derek Stepan for a goal earlier in the period.

"I'm getting rewarded right now," said St. Louis, who has 11 points in the last 10 games. "Sometimes you don't play too good and get rewarded, and sometimes you play really well and it's just not happening. I think having [Stepan] back helps bring some depth down the middle. We're able to get some chemistry with our lines and it's contagious."

It was St. Louis' 998th career point. He could reach 1,000 against his former team, when the Rangers visit Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Montreal, which had won two straight, was 8-0-0 when scoring first, but the Rangers never let them get a lead, or many rebounds.

Dom Moore opened the scoring at 9:44 of the first period from in close, his first of the season and reminiscent of his goal in the 1-0 victory in Game 6 against Montreal that lifted the Rangers into the Stanley Cup Final. "I think right from the onset, they knew it wasn't going to be an easy night," defenseman Marc Staal said.

After all, the Canadiens were playing a night after a 2-0 win in Boston. The Rangers stayed home after the postponement of Friday's game in Buffalo. They carried energy into the third period, and the Canadiens sagged.

At 1:40 of the third, Kevin Hayes, on the right boards, sent a pass to Anthony Duclair, who kicked it to his stick and fed the puck back to Carl Hagelin on the doorstep for his fifth of the season. And Rick Nash, getting behind the defense, beat Tokarski at 15:24, for his 14th of the season. The fifth goal tied a season high and was the icing on the cake: All 12 forwards had recorded a point for the first time since Dec. 17, 1980 against Winnipeg.

Lundqvist, playing his first game after allowing five goals to Tampa six days ago, stopped all 21 shots. It was his fourth, and perhaps easiest, shutout of the season, and the second consecutive blanking for the Blueshirts. Cam Talbot, with 31 saves, shut out the Flyers here on Wednesday. It was the first time in the regular season since 2003 that the Blueshirts posted back-to-back shutouts.

"It helps with not giving up chances," said Lundqvist, whose shutout was the 54th of his career, tying him with Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent for 20th on the NHL's all-time list, "but also coming out of our zone with a lot of speed and coming out together. We're a fast team when we play that way."