Shesterkin stops 41, Rangers edge Stars to end 3-game skid

DALLAS -- Igor Shesterkin made 41 saves, and Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for the New York Rangers in a 3-1 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Friday.

The Rangers went 7-for-7 on the penalty kill, including a five-minute major in the third period. They also scored a short-handed goal by Reilly Smith at 10:44 of the first period.

“We need to win games. We’re not thinking about yesterday at all, we’re just moving forward taking it one game at a time. Tonight was a good step in the right direction,” Trocheck said. “It’s 17 minutes on the [penalty kill] so it’s pretty gritty. The PK came up big tonight, and we can get a lot of momentum from our penalty kill when it’s playing like it was tonight.”

Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers (16-15-1), who had lost three straight, 11 of 14, and traded forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

Of Shesterkin's 41 saves, 21 came with the Rangers on the penalty kill.

“[Shesterkin] was great in net, but the penalty killers were fantastic,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had some power plays too, so that stresses a lot of guys as far as the minutes go. Guys were resilient tonight to stay with it. Just a really good win.”

Roope Hintz scored and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for the Stars (19-13-0), who ended their six-game homestand with a 3-3-0 record.

“Our [power play] is letting us down right now and it’s got to be better,” Stars forward Jamie Benn said. “Every opportunity is a new challenge and we’ve got to find a way to get it done here. We feel like we’re getting looks, they’re just not going in.”

Hintz gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 1:46 into the first period on a shot from the slot that beat Shesterkin high-glove.

Smith tied it 1-1 at 10:44 shorthanded after getting a breakaway off a turnover by Stars defenseman Thomas Harley.

“I had a breakaway and [facing] a big goalie. Just tried to beat him low,” Smith said. “He’s really big so sometimes you don’t see a lot of net. So sometimes you just try to power one past him.”

“It’s one thing if the power play doesn’t score, but it can’t take momentum from your group. That’s what it did tonight,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Took the momentum away from how we were playing, gave up the short-handed goal, difference in the game and changed the game. It’s on us to get that fixed.”

Trocheck gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 15:20 on a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle through traffic.

Kreider scored into an empty net at 17:54 for the 3-1 final.

The came after the Stars faliled to score on the five-minute major, which was a result of Matt Rempe elbowing Miro Heiskanen in the head along the glass in the third period.

“I don’t even know how many we had, but a lot and we didn’t score. That’s [why we] lost today,” Hintz said. “Had a good penalty kill but then we couldn’t score on the power play. We’ve got to find some ways to get some goals. I think we had some looks, but at the end of the day, that’s not good enough when you get that many power plays and you don’t score.”

Artemi Panarin collected an assist in his return to the Rangers after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.

NOTES: The game marked the 14th time Shesterkin has made at least 40 saves in a win for the Rangers, which is the third most in team history, behind Gump Worsley (22) and Henrik Lundqvist (21). ... The win was the Rangers' 31st comeback victory dating to last season, which trails only the Colorado Avalanche (35), New Jersey Devils (34) and Stars (33).