Rangers need to be more disciplined and limit penalties

In the previous eight games before hosting the Predators Monday night, the Rangers were forced to kill penalties 32 times, an average of four per game. Opponents scored six times.

"It's something our group has to focus on," center Derek Stepan, who has only one minor penalty this season, said before the game. "We're not able to control what the ref calls and doesn't call. We can control our discipline. If they get more power plays than us tonight, we have to be sharper on the PK. It's something that's out of our control, and discipline is huge."

But the Rangers were in the box for 7:21 in the first period and had to survive another five-penalty night, thanks in large part to blocked shots. Of the season-high 26, the defensemen blocked 18: Kevin Klein had six and Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh had four each.

Vigneault: Holy Nash!

Alain Vigneault appreciates Rick Nash's shooting skill. "There's a hole there," he said of Nash's goal on Monday night, "and only an elite goal-scorer can pick that hole against an elite goaltender like that."

Blue lines

The Rangers' 16 wins and 34 points are the most through the first 21 games in franchise history . . . They won 53 percent of the faceoffs, led by Jarret Stoll's 9 of 13 . . . The Predators attempted 75 shots -- 31 on net, 26 blocked and 18 misses . . . Filip Forsberg had 13 attempts . . . The Rangers have scored first in 14 of 21 games and are 9-1-0 in November.