Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves and three more in the shootout as the host New York Rangers earned a crucial 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. Vincent Trocheck scored in the second round of the shootout for the lone goal of the skills competition as the Rangers improved to 5-0-2 in their past seven games after dropping 15 of 19 (4-15-0).

A tired but happy group of New York Rangers hopped a plane for Montreal late Saturday night after a 1-0 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden. Cries of “Igor, Igor” rained down on Igor Shesterkin after he completed the victory by denying Kirill Marchenko in the third round to end the game and extend the Rangers’ point streak to 5-0-2.

At various points of this up-and-down season, the Rangers almost certainly would have found a way to lose a game like the one they played Saturday night against red-hot Columbus at Madison Square Garden.