Rangers shut out Jets, move even with Hurricanes atop Metropolitan

If the Rangers could end the regular season right now, they would do it.

Since they clinched a playoff spot April 9, all coach Gerard Gallant and the players have talked about, as far as objectives for the rest of the season are trying to make sure they continue to play well and are in peak form when the playoffs start in two weeks.

And right now, they are certainly in peak form.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and Ryan Strome had two goals as the Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-0, Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, recording their third straight shutout, their sixth win in the last seven games, and their 50th win of the season (50-21-6).

Adam Fox also scored a goal, his first in 13 games, and former Jet Andrew Copp, playing his first game against his old team since being traded to the Rangers at the March 21 deadline, had two assists.

It is the fifth time in their history the Rangers have won 50 games, and the first time since 2014-15. And with the win, they once again pulled into a first-place tie in the Metropolitan Division with the idle Carolina Hurricanes. Both teams have 106 points, with five games left in the season.

“As a coach, you never come in here and say, ‘Well, 50 wins would be a great season for us,’ ’’ Gallant said after the game. “I mean, you just take one game at a time, and that’s how we do things. But [50 wins] is huge.’’

“I think you want to win as many games as possible, so it’s obviously a nice accolade,’’ Strome said of getting 50 wins. “I think we’ve had a lot of great accomplishments this year and guys have had some great personal success. But little accolades like that for the team, I think, mean a lot too.’’

Still, as impressive as 50 wins may seem, Gallant warned that there is a bigger goal than having a great regular season.

“It’s been a really good year and a lot of fun,’’ he said. “It’s great to have a great regular season like we’re having, but it’s all about the next season.’’

And by “the next season,’’ he meant the playoffs, which can’t get here fast enough for the Rangers. They haven’t given up a goal in a week, since Jordan Staal scored at 6:24 of the third period of Carolina’s 4-2 win on April 12.

“It’s not just the last three games and the shutouts,’’ Gallant said. “It’s been the last number games where we’re playing a lot better defensively. And you know it makes you feel more confident as a coach that you’re not winning just because of your goaltending. We’ve played good hockey the last number of games.’’

They are 14-4-1 over their last 19 games.

They did need Shesterkin to be as great as he was in the first half of the season to keep them in the game the first two periods against the Jets, however. In a relatively lackluster game through 40 minutes, Shesterkin stopped all 18 shots Winnipeg took — many of them in the Grade A category — and the goalpost stopped one, by Zach Sanford, at 8:44 of the second period, to keep it 0-0.

Then, Morgan Barron, playing his first game at the Garden since being sent to Winnipeg as part of the package the Rangers gave up for Copp, was penalized for a high stick on Filip Chytil at 14:19, and the Rangers capitalized on the power play, with Strome driving the net and redirecting a feed from Mika Zibanejad over the shoulder of Winnipeg goalie Eric Comrie for his 18th goal.

Fox took a drop pass from Panarin at the top of the slot and whipped a wrist shot past a surprised Comrie (31 saves) for his 11th goal. Strome added his second into an empty net with 32.3 seconds remaining.

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.