Happy Swedes: Carl Hagelin congratulates Henrik Lundqvist after his 56th career shutout. A 2-0 Ranger win over the Oilers.
The Canadian Press/Jason Franson/Getty Images

How bad are the Oilers? Maybe the better question is how low can they go after losing for the 15th time in their last 16. Playing for a second straight night, the Rangers did what they had to shutting out the Oilers 2-0 for their third consecutive win. Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves to tie Marc-Andre Fleury for the league lead in shutouts (5). It was his 56th career allowing him to pass Ed Giacomin and Bernie Parent for 20th all-time.

”It was not a very tough game for me, but they had a few chances here and there,” Lundqvist said after making a big stop on David Perron late to preserve the win. ”We were patient. We felt like they were playing not to make any mistakes and were staying back. They were waiting for us to make mistakes so that they could counter. But we did a good job of playing a smart hockey game.

”We just stuck with the game plan and let our chances come to us. I thought we were the better team the whole game, but at the same time it was still a one-goal game for most of it.”

They had no choice. In what can best be described as dull hockey that could’ve put fans at Rexall Place to sleep, the Rangers stuck with it to match their longest winning streak of the season. It was suffocating. How bad was it? The teams combined for 25 total shots through two periods and 38 overall. It was brutal. At least the Rangers won to gain a split in the season series. They needed it. The win improved them to 14-10-4 with 32 points. They trail third place Washington by a point with a game at hand.

Dan Girardi’s goal with 3:56 left in the first period was enough to defeat the NHL’s worst team. Edmonton is awful. In a game they only got 16 shots on Lundqvist, they actually played well. I don’t know how to even define that. The Rangers definitely struggled at times failing to sustain a consistent forecheck. They weren’t engaged early. But defensively, they gave the Oilers nothing. Marc Staal had a second straight strong game. He was very active. Girardi and McDonagh were equally stingy making good defensive plays. As a team, the Rangers blocked 21 shots led by McDonagh’s 4.

After a sluggish start, they began to dictate following a penalty kill of a Jesper Fast hooking minor. He basically had to take the penalty due to Nail Yakupov beating John Moore. Fast negated a scoring chance. More than you can say for Moore, who continued to not distinguish himself since replacing Matt Hunwick two games ago. Moore only got 19 shifts (12:06) with 11:07 at even strength. The Rangers only had one power play. The lack of trust Alain Vigneault has in him speaks volumes. Moore hasn’t improved and might become another Michael Del Zotto. When they visit Calgary tomorrow, I’d reinsert Hunwick, who’s steadier.

With Derick Brassard out with the mumps, Vigneault elevated J.T. Miller to the top line. He centered Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello while Chris Kreider moved back up with Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis. Tanner Glass slid into the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Fast. There really wasn’t much happening. Outside of a couple of strong shifts from Kevin Hayes, Carl Hagelin and Lee Stempniak, the Rangers didn’t generate a whole lot. As the first went on, they got better. Eventually, another good shift from Nash resulted in a pinching Girardi centering for Zuccarello. At first glance, it looked like Zuccarello tapped it in but the replay showed that Girardi banked it in off an Edmonton defenseman for his second. In the last two games, three Ranger defensemen have scored. A positive trend moving forward.

The second was a mirror image. Edmonton started out okay. Then the Blueshirts took over forcing Ben Scrivens to make eight saves. The Oilers only had five shots (10 total) through two periods. It was sad. Some of their attempts never made it due to our D. Other times, our defensemen recovered to deny them. Even Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was limited despite his speed. Taylor Hall had three shots and Jordan Eberle two. Scrivens made his best save on Nash robbing him.

For the first half of the third, the Rangers didn’t get a shot. Kreider got their first one over 11 minutes in. He played well for a second game in a row. He was more noticeable and finished checks. Maybe the time off helped. Kreider only has four goals. I have a feeling that’s about to change. I like his last two games and believe he’s close to breaking out.

I didn’t like how our team sat back. But that’s what Vigneault opts for. For an offensive coach, he’s awfully conservative in third periods with the lead. I would’ve preferred them to press the attack. It worked because the Oilers are miserable. A good defensive play by Dom Moore allowed Hagelin to score into an empty net with 22 seconds left.

”It was a tough night it seemed to get anything going,” former Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. He was fired today. ”It was one of those, it looked like a game where you’re watching paint dry. Both teams were being fairly responsible. The Rangers a few years ago took on that mentality of shot blocking where nothing was ever going to get through. It seemed like they were able to block a ton of shots and we weren’t able to get them through.”

”When you put only 16 shots on net, it’s tough to win and it showed tonight,” Nugent-Hopkins said.

The Rangers will take the two points and try to complete a sweep of the three games in Northwestern Canada tomorrow at Calgary. The Flames have lost five straight but are much better competition. They boast Norris front runner Mark Giordano, Calder hopeful Johnny Gaudreau and emerging second-year center Sean Monahan. Dennis Wideman leads all defensemen with 10 goals. The trio of Wideman, Giordano and T.J. Brodie have combined for 24 goals. Jiri Hudler and Curtis Glencross are having good years. Keep an eye on rookie Josh Jooris. Both Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo have done a solid job splitting number one duty in net. It should be a tough game.

Notes: With an assist, Nash extended his career best point streak to 10 (6-6-12). He’s recorded a point in 23 of the Rangers’ 28. … Zuccarello has four points (2-2-4) and is plus-five over the last three. He’s 6-8-14 in 26 games. … In his return, Glass saw 13 shifts totaling 10:10 at even strength and 1:05 shorthanded with a key block on an Edmonton power play. … For a second consecutive game, every Blueshirt got double digits in ice-time. Staal led all skaters with 24:14 while Fast had the least (11:08). … For his career, Lundqvist improved to 43-20-7 in back-to-backs with a 2.01 GAA, .929 save percentage and 8 shutouts in the second game.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Dominic Moore, NYR (assist, 6-and-2 on draws, +1 in 13:05)

2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (16 save shutout-56th career)

1st Star-Marc Staal, NYR (2 blocks, takeaway, superb defensively in 29 shifts-24:14)