Rangers polish off weary Ducks 5-2 to stay perfect at The Garden

The New York Rangers continue to be unbeatable at Madison Square Garden. Their latest victim was the Anaheim Ducks.

Dylan Garand made 28 saves and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice as the Rangers rolled to a 5-2 win over the travel-weary Ducks, who spent 15 hours getting from Orange County to the Big Apple on Sunday because of flight delays.

Sean Durzi,J.T. Miller and Gabe Perreault also scored for the Rangers. Alexis Lafreniere had two assists. Pavel Dorofeyev played perhaps his most effective game as a Ranger; he had just one assist but led the Blueshirts with five shots on goal and 10 attempts.

Garand nearly had his second shutout in nine NHL starts, but was beaten by Anaheim defenseman Nick Jensen with 1:09 left in the third period. He’s allowed more than two goals once in those nine games.

The win improved the Rangers’ record on home ice to 6-0-0 and marked just the third time in franchise history that the Blueshirts have won their first six home games. They matched the 1983-84 team’s 6-0-0 start and moved within two of the team record set by the 1990-91 Blueshirts, who began the season with eight straight wins at the Garden.

For comparison, their sixth win at the Garden last season came on Jan. 21.

Durzi put the Rangers ahead 78 seconds into the game, and New York blew it open in the second period with goals by Miller, Perreault and Bjorkstrand in a span of 8:36. Bjorkstrand added another goal early in the third.

That was more than enough support for Garand, who has allowed three goals in two games since being hooked early in the second period of last Thursday’s 7-1 debacle in New Jersey. He was 69 seconds from his second NHL shutout before Anaheim’s Nick Jensen, and A.J. Greer scored 36 seconds later to make the final score look much closer than it should have been.

“We just love playing here, It’s an amazing place,” Bjorkstrand told MSG Networks after the game when asked about the Rangers’ success at home. “We’ve got to keep this going.”

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they don’t play all of their games at the Garden. New York gets two days off before beginning a two-game trip to Canada with a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Rangers stay perfect at the Garden by drubbing Ducks 5-2

The Ducks didn’t arrive at their hotel in New York until 2:30 a.m. ET on Monday after a 15-hour, cross-country journey that included having to change airports — and airplanes — because of rerouting and mechanical issues. Maybe it was the travel issues, but the Ducks were a step slow for most of the game, and the Rangers wasted little time capitalizing.

Tye Kartye’s shot hit the post just over a minute into the game, but New York retained control. Dorofeyev got the puck to Durzi at the right point, and the defenseman’s long shot beat a screened Ville Husso at 1:18 for a 1-0 lead.

Miller made life difficult for the Anaheim goaltender by battling with Linus Karlsson in front; it appeared that the Anaheim defender’s skate caught Husso’s, knocking him slightly off balance.

The Rangers scored within the first 2:00 for the third straight home game, something they had done just once before — a three-game span from March 15-22, 1989. They also scored first for the sixth time in as many games at MSG this season.

Garand preserved the lead on the next shift with a good save on Tristan Luneau’s shot from the right circle and an even better one on Cutter Gauthier’s rip from the left circle on the rebound.

The Rangers had a chance to expand their lead when Jeff Malott was sent off for high-sticking at 2:23 and Nick Jensen was called for delay of game at 3:39. Dorofeyev had a great chance during the 5-on-3, but he hit the post after popping into an open spot in front of the net.

New York killed off a holding penalty to Alberts Smits at 7:08 thanks to Garand, who stopped a good luck from Gauthier and denied Ducks captain Mikael Granlund off a scramble. Husso made two excellent stops on close-in chances by Dorofeyev just before the 16-minute mark to keep the Ducks down just one goal after 20 minutes. Each team finished with 14 shots on goal.

But the Rangers blew the game open in the second period, outscoring a sluggish Anaheim team 3-0 and outshooting the visitors 12-7.

Miller, who didn’t get an assist on Durzi’s goal despite his hard work, made it 2-0 at 4:38 when he again went to the front of the net and this time got a piece of Adam Fox’s straightaway power-play shot from just inside the blue line. It was his second goal of the season.

Perreault got one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score when he made it 3-0 at 10:17. A tic-tac-toe passing play from Lafreniere to Mika Zibanejad to Perreault left the second-year forward alone at the right post for a tap-in.

It became 4-0 at 13:14 after Justin Dowling pressured Anaheim’s Bennett Sennecke along the left wall. Sennecke threw the puck blindly into the middle, where Bjorkstrand easily picked it off, moved between the circles and snapped a shot past a defenseless Husso, who faced 11 high-danger chances in the middle period (all situations), according to Natural Stat Trick.

Bjorkstrand improved his case for more ice time when he beat Husso at 3:20 of the third period, giving his four goals for the season — two each against the Ducks and the New York Islanders on Oct. 6.

The Rangers will be happy to have a two-day break after playing 11 games in the first 19 days of the season. Their task now is to find a way to carry their success at the Garden with them on the road, where they are 1-3-1.

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