The New York Rangers secured a 5–0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, extending their point streak to nine games (6-0-3) without having suffered a regulation loss since Jan. 4.
The game featured a strong team performance from the Rangers and from Matt Rempe in particular, who delivered both a goal and a fight in New York's effort.
Rempe scored his second NHL goal this season in the third period, putting a backhand shot past goalie Leevi Merilainen to make it 3–0 after linking up with Adam Edstrom, who set up the chance.
“I screamed for (the puck), got back to it, and just went for (the goal),” Rempe said after the game. “It’s pretty exciting, especially to connect like that with Eddy—one of my best buddies.”
Later in the period, Rempe dropped the gloves with Brady Tkachuk in defense of goaltender Igor Shesterkin after Tkachuk made contact with him in the crease.
The scuffle saw Shesterkin briefly confront Tkachuk himself before referees intervened, with Rempe taking over the fighting duties.
“I was a little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to him,” Rempe said of Shesterkin. “But I love it because he’s a competitor. Igor’s the man.”
Shesterkin earned his second consecutive shutout, stopping all 20 shots he faced.
Tuesday marked Rempe’s seventh straight appearance since returning from an eight-game suspension, with the Rangers going 5–0-2 during that stretch.
The win positioned the Rangers just two points behind the top-3 teams in the Eastern Conference wild-card race with 50 points in 47 games and a 23-20-4 record good for fifth in the Metropolitan Division.