A day following the trade that sent Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Avalanche, the Rangers got a vintage performance from Jonathan Quick in a 4-0 win over the Predators. After hardly being tested the first two periods, Quick stopped 19 shots in the third period on his way to pitching the 63rd shutout of his career.

It was another reminder of how brilliant Quick’s been throughout his Hall of Fame career. Even at 39, the winningest netminder in American history continues to get the job done for the Rangers, who bounced back from a tough loss on Friday to gain some valuable ground in the playoff race. By winning over the Predators, they pulled within two points of the Red Wings for the second wild card. They have 64 points with 22 games remaining. The Senators also have 64 points but have played one less game. The Red Wings have 66 points and 22 games left. It’s anyone’s guess what will happen over the final home stretch.

For at least two periods, the Rangers didn’t need Quick to do much. Facing the league’s biggest disappointment, they jumped all over the Predators in a dominant first period that saw them outshoot Nashville 15-6. Justus Annunen did his best to keep the Predators in the game.

It marked the debut of both Juuso Parssinen and Calvin de Haan. Acquired from Colorado on Saturday, Parssinen wore number 71 and centered the third line. De Haan wore his trademark number 44 and paired up with Zac Jones. Each had a positive impact on the victory.

With the game still scoreless, de Haan made a nice recovery to take away a puck in the neutral zone. That led to Alexis Lafreniere making a good cross-ice feed that sent Artemi Panarin in for a slapshot that beat Annunen upstairs for a 1-0 lead. Not known for his offense, the defensive-minded de Haan picked up an assist in his first game as a Ranger. He entered play with seven assists in 44 games with the Avalanche. The 33-year-old veteran acquitted himself well finishing a plus-1 in 16:26 of even strength time.

Prior to Panarin snapping a six-game goal drought, Matt Rempe was called for an elbowing minor on Cole Smith. The much bigger Rempe came in with speed and delivered a glancing blow that sent Smith down to the ice. He was immediately challenged by Andreas Englund, who gave Rempe a bloody nose. Rempe received five minutes for fighting and two minutes for elbowing. Englund received five minutes for fighting, two for instigating, and a 10-minute misconduct. There was no loss of manpower.

With the Rangers ahead by one, the Predators put them on the power play just 26 seconds into the second period. After he drew a tripping minor on Jonathan Marchessault, Mika Zibanejad combined with Panarin on a nice passing play that led to Miller scoring a beautiful goal on a backdoor cut to the net. The goal was Miller’s sixth as a Ranger in 10 games. He continues to deliver since the trade with the Canucks.

Miller was at it again when he hooked up with K’Andre Miller who cut in and scored a beauty for his fifth goal that made it 3-0. After he received a pass from Zibanejad in the neutral zone, Miller skated into the Predators’ zone and drew two defenders before sliding the puck to a cutting K’Andre Miller who broke in and beat Annunen with a wicked backhand.

The Rangers remained in control up 3-0 after two periods. The third was a different story. Unlike the previous 40 minutes, the Predators played with more energy. They came out and were aggressive.

After he broke in on a two-on-one and was stopped by Annunen, Sam Carrick banged into the Predators netminder to go off for goalie interference. Although they didn’t score on the man-advantage, the Preds gained momentum from it. Quick came up with his best save when he stole a goal from Marchessault by making a scorpion save. It wasn’t the only time he bailed his teammates out. They got sloppy in the third period. But Quick was there to deliver the big saves.

As the shots piled up, Quick continued to give the Predators nothing. Their best wasn’t good enough. The Rangers were thoroughly outplayed in the period, getting outshot 19-6. It didn’t matter. They had the better goalie.

On a night when Parssinen played with Brennan Othmann and Jonny Brodzinski, another young Blueshirts forward got rewarded to put the game away. Brett Berard just returned to the team from the Wolf Pack. With the Rangers sitting out Reilly Smith for “trade related reasons,” Berard returned to the lineup. He played mostly with Carrick and Rempe on the checking line.

As usual, Berard was noticeable. On with Vincent Trocheck and Carrick for a late shift, he buried his fourth from in front to put the game away. Following a Trocheck faceoff win, Carrick found Berard open for the final goal that came with 3:03 left.

After swatting aside a couple of more late attempts from the Predators, Quick was congratulated by excited teammates. It was his third shutout of the season. He continues to prove that he can still get it done. The Rangers needed it. They’ll face the Islanders on Monday night in another must win game.