By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The backup goalie won in this game, as Antti Raanta made his Rangers debut with 22 saves, in a skid-ending game, 4-0 Monday.

Raanta became the first to have a shutout debut for the team since Marcel Paille on November 2, 1957.

New York ended their three game losing streak, while San Jose lost two straight for the first time this season.

Marc Staal and Jesper Fast each had a goal and assist. All were their first of the season. In fact, three of the four goals were the first of the season for the scorers.

The Rangers scored in each period, as they amassed double the number of goals they had during their losing streak.  

Staal started the scoring at 10:36 of the first period. He was aided by Derick Brassard and Fast.

New York doubled their lead in the second. Mats Zuccarello scored on the power play, helped by Rick Nash and former Shark Dan Boyle. It was Zuccarello’s fourth goal, as he tied teammate Oscar Lindberg for the team lead.   

Both the third and the fourth goal in the third period started in the Rangers’ end.

The puck went off the boards and Chris Krieider made a long pass up the ice to Fast, who true to his name, was the closest player to goalie Martin Jones at the time. Defenseman Brenden Dillon tried with his stick, but was not able to stop Fast from making the shot. The puck initially hit Jones’  stick and then went under his legs while he was sprawled out at 3:47. Keith Yandle got the second assist.

For the fourth and fnial goal, San Jose had a 4 on 2, but Staal broke up possession and the puck went to Viktor Stalberg, as he went five hole against Jones.

Game notes: The Sharks went 0 for 2 on the power play. San Jose’s Bryan Lerg played his first game in place of Ben Smith. It was Jones’ first loss, as he stopped 24 of 28 shots. The Sharks’ Paul Martin missed his second straight game and Joonas Donskoi was also out due to injury. San Jose now returns home to host the Kings on Thursday at 7:30pm.