Kakko, Georgiev lead Rangers to shutout of Flyers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kaapo Kakko scored a pair of goals and Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp also scored for New York, which has won four of five. Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba each had two assists.

The Rangers remained in second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind idle Carolina. The Hurricanes skated to a 4-2 win over the Rangers in New York on Tuesday night.

“(Georgiev) was excellent, real strong game,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “He was the difference for us.”

Georgiev was strong early to prevent Philadelphia from taking a lead — until the Rangers got their legs going. His best save might have been a stop on Travis Konecny’s backhanded breakaway attempt with 2:48 left in the second. Georgiev recorded his eighth career shutout.

“It feels great,” Georgiev said. “You need a little bit of luck and the team to play great in front of you. That was all there today.”

The Flyers have been outscored 18-5 while losing three in a row. Philadelphia entered 15th of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and was playing without several key regulars.

Kakko scored his first with 9:40 left in the first when his wrist shot from the slot beat Felix Sandström on the glove side. It was Kakko’s sixth goal of the season and first since Dec. 15.

“It feels good,” he said. “Our line played well and our whole team played well.”

He made it 2-0 with 11:38 left in the second when Filip Chytil won a battle along the boards and then passed to the front of the net to Kakko, who one-timed it past Sandstrom.

“That was a great pass,” Kakko said. “Easy for me.”

Kakko was playing in his third game back after