Alexandar Georgiev makes 44 saves as Rangers shut out Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Rangers had a tall task in front of them Sunday at PNC Arena.

They were playing their second game in less than 24 hours, against the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, and their best player, goaltender Igor Shesterkin, was being rested.

But backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev turned in undoubtedly his best game of the season, making 44 saves to earn the seventh shutout of his career as the Rangers beat the Hurricanes, 2-0, and completed a sweep of their two-game weekend trip to Tampa and Carolina.

Chris Kreider scored his 41st goal late in the second period and newcomer Frank Vatrano scored into an empty net with 41.3 seconds remaining for his first goal as a Ranger. The Hurricanes outshot the Rangers 44-18.

“We were lucky today,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “I’d like to say we came in here and played a great game . . . but last night [IN TAMPA]was a great game. Today was a great goaltender who was unbelievable and made great saves. And we were a tired hockey team . . .

“We got in at 2 o’clock in the morning, we’ve got to play a 6 o’clock game after playing a good game last night, and they were all over us. They dominated. But we found a way to get two points.’’

The Rangers (40-18-5) returned home after the game and will wait and see if general manager Chris Drury will make any more deals before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

Drury already made one trade Wednesday, acquiring Vatrano from the Florida Panthers for a fourth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft, but he has plenty of salary cap space to work with and many available assets to offer if he wants to make another move or two.

Georgiev could be in play for some kind of trade, especially after his showing Sunday. He has struggled in his backup role to Shesterkin, but he has seemed to pick it up in his last few games. This win lifted his record to 9-9-2, dropped his goals-against average to 2.99 and raised his save percentage to .899. As a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer, he could be attractive to a team looking for a goalie.

Or he may have done enough to convince Drury and Gallant that he is worth keeping as insurance in case anything happens to Shesterkin.

Georgiev said it has been “not easy’’ to handle his infrequent playing time this season, and he said getting the shutout “felt pretty great.’’

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a game like that, where it’s not a lot of goals and a tight game until the end,’’ he said. “So I tried to enjoy that and be in the moment and compete.’’

He credited his defensemen for blocking shots and deflecting passes and said, “It’s a team shutout, for sure.’’

Carolina outshot the Rangers 14-3 in the first period, but Georgiev kept his team in it.

A couple of power plays in the second period gave the Rangers a chance to gain some momentum. They appeared to score the game’s first goal at 14:42 when Filip Chytil won a battle for a loose puck behind the net after Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen failed to cover it and then stuffed a wraparound into the vacant net with Andersen flat on his back. The referee lost sight of the puck, though, and blew the whistle before the puck was in the net.

“He thought the puck was covered,’’ Gallant said. “He didn’t see it and he just said he blew it . . . What do you do?’’

Less than a minute later, though, Jacob Trouba fired a shot from the right point and Kreider deflected it past Andersen at 15:39 to make it 1-0. And Georgiev made it stand up.

Said Gallant, “I was so happy to see him come off the ice and have a shutout against a team like 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.