NEW YORK _ For the first time in 10 years _ a stretch of 25 games dating back to 2006 _ Henrik Lundqvist didn't start against the rival Devils at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Kevin Weekes was the last goalie to do it and the Rangers lost, 6-1.
But that was another era.
This time, stepping in for Lundqvist for the third consecutive game, backup Antti Rannta posted his second straight shutout on Sunday as the Rangers rolled over the Devils, 5-0, for their third straight win in a four-day span.
The game turned in the second period, when the Rangers, leading 1-0 on Chris Kreider's eighth of the season, scored two goals late _ a shor-thander by J.T. Miller and Brady Skjei's first in the NHL. The Rangers killed three penalties and held the Devils to three shots in 20 minutes.
Raanta, who won his eighth game with 19 saves, made timely stops, especially in the first, to douse the Devils, as he had in victories over Winnipeg (2-1) and Chicago (1-0 in overtime) on the road.
"Antti deserves to play tonight, and that's what we're doing," coach Alain Vigneault said before the game. "[Hank] saw Antti play, and like all our players, it's a team-first attitude and right now there's no doubt that Antti's playing real well. I love Hank, but I love the team more."
Vingeault did not reveal his choice in goal for Tuesday's game against Chicago.
Raanta, whose scoreless streak stretched to 151:04, said that Vigneault "said to us at the beginning of the season that if you earn your minutes and you'll get a chance to play. That's been my whole goal this season."
Lundqvist acknowledged that sitting out is a departure from past seasons. "I have always had, in the past, I've had opportunities to play in ups and downs," Lundqvist said. "I just play and get into a nice flow. It's a little different now, you play a couple and sit out; it's a different approach. But there's no excuses. ... You need to be on top of it and earn your minutes. If he (Raanta) hadn't played that well and I'm still sitting here, that would be harder to accept."
In the decisive second, Ben Lovejoy came out of the penalty box after a giveaway and from the right corner, fed Vern Fiddler alone from 15 feet and was denied at 3:32. Raanta then made a glove save on Kyle Palmieri's wrister from alone at the left dot, and some chants of "Rahn-ta" rose from the crowd. Then with Marc Staal off for tripping, Kevin Hayes picked up a loose puck in mid ice, started skating and led Miller, who was driving to the net, for a beautiful tip past Cory Schneider at 16:07 .
With time winding down, Oscar Lindberg won an offensive zone faceoff, and Derek Stepan tapped a pass to Brady Skjei at the left point, whose slapper deflected off a defender and zipped past Schneider with 2.5 seconds left. The rookie's first NHL goal was a killer, providing a three-goal lead and setting the stage for the Devils to drop to 12-10-6.
The Devils tested Raanta in the third, with six shots in the first four minutes, but Brandon Pirri jumped on a power-play rebound of Ryan McDonagh's shot and scored his first goal in 13 games at 6:04. Jimmy Vesey scored on a power play with 2:27 left. It was the third time in nine games that the Devils have allowed five goals.
Raanta had played three or more consecutive games twice when he was with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2014, and made his best stop of the first on Nick Lappin's break in from 13 feet at 8:27, then zipped back to the left post to deny Palmieri a minute later.
"I just have to go one game at a time, the whole team has been playing good," Raanta said.
