Rangers step closer to playoff berth with victory over Devils

NEWARK, N.J. – After two games over the weekend that they weren’t so proud of, the Rangers got back on the winning track Tuesday night against an undermanned Devils team that announced it will be without 20-year-old star Jack Hughes for the rest of the season because of a knee injury.

Ryan Strome returned to the Rangers’ lineup and scored a goal, and Chris Kreider continued his dream season by breaking a couple of team records with his 47th goal as the Rangers wore down the Devils and beat them, 3-1, at Prudential Center, moving them within four points of clinching their first playoff spot in five years.

“Everything’s about winning,’’ said Strome, who had missed four games with a lower-body injury. “That’s everything. That’s all our mindsets, from the training staff to the players. So whatever we need to do to get towards that direction, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Strome and Kreider scored on the power play. Strome’s goal tied the score at 1 at 11:07 of the first period and Kreider’s gave them a 2-1 lead at 17:57 of the period. For Kreider, the goal was his 25th on the power play, breaking the franchise’s single-season record, which had been set by Jaromir Jagr in 2005-06. The goal also was Kreider’s 10th game-winning goal of the season, which also broke a team record.

“I think it’s just a testament to our power play,’’ Kreider said. “I mean, the guys that I’m playing with, they’re amazing. So many weapons. Obviously, you’ve got to respect ‘Stromer’ in the middle, or else he’s going to put the puck under the bar. The whole reason I get that chance there is because he had already scored a goal, and the goalie had to respect that shot again.”

Obviously, no one knows what . . . Artie [Panarin]’s doing. He’s just throwing so much misdirection at the other team [and] opening lanes . . . And if you’re going to take away Artie and leave Mika [Zibanejad], Mika’s going to burn you. And Adam Fox is the reigning Norris Trophy winner.

“So those guys get the puck to me in the right spot the right times,’’ he said.

The Rangers (45-20-6) increased their lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins to four points in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers and Penguins will face each other for the final time in the regular season on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

The Devils got on the board first, when Yegor Sharangovich knocked down Jacob Trouba’s pass in the neutral zone and went in on a breakaway. Sharangovich scored on a backhand, beating Alexandar Georgiev (20 saves) for his 20th goal of the season at 6:56 of the first period.

But the momentum of the game shifted when Braden Schneider, back in the lineup after being scratched on Sunday, hammered Jesper Boqvist with a clean check in the neutral zone in front of the Devils bench. Sharangovich took umbrage, and immediately attacked Schneider.

Schneider, though, pummeled Sharangovich in the ensuing fight. And to make matters worse for the Devils, Sharangovich was given an instigator penalty, which gave the Rangers a power play, leading to Strome’s goal. Sharangovich also apparently suffered some sort of injury in the battle. He left for the locker room and did not return.

Kreider’s goal, a deflection of a shot by Panarin (two assists), put the Rangers ahead, 2-1, and then defenseman Justin Braun, playing in his third game with the Rangers, since being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers at the March 21 trade deadline, scored his first goal with his new team at 3:55 of the third period.

rds.

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.