Dylan Garand, Rangers Stay Perfect at MSG, Top Ducks 5-2

Dylan Garand and the New York Rangers are still perfect at Madison Square Garden. Garand made 29 saves and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice as the Rangers beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Monday to improve to 6-0-0 at home.

That is the Rangers' best home start since 1990-91, when they won their first eight games at the Garden, per NHL.com. For some perspective, they did not win their sixth home game last season until Jan. 26.

Dylan Garand keeps answering the bell

Garand has been the No. 1 since Igor Shesterkin went down with a season-ending lower-body injury on Oct. 9, and he keeps handling it. He has allowed two or fewer goals in five of his six starts this season and in eight of nine career NHL starts. He had a shutout going until Nick Jensen scored at 18:51 of the third, and A.J. Greer added a late one off the goalie 36 seconds later.

"My expectation, just based on his body of work here, is that he's going to win, he's going to make saves for us, he's going to make timely saves," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's given us a chance to win night in and night out."

If you picked up Garand when Shesterkin went down, he keeps paying you back.

Fast start, then Bjorkstrand takes over

The Ducks had a brutal trip in, a 15-hour travel day after plane maintenance that got them to their hotel at 2:30 a.m. Monday, and the Rangers jumped them. Sean Durzi scored from the point at 1:18 of the first, the third straight home game New York scored in the opening two minutes.

J.T. Miller deflected an Adam Fox shot for a power-play goal in the second, and Gabe Perreault finished a pretty Alexis Lafreniere to Mika Zibanejad passing play for 3-0. Bjorkstrand then picked off a Beckett Sennecke pass and went in alone for 4-0, and beat Ville Husso through the legs early in the third for 5-0.

"He can really shoot it," Sullivan said. "His two goals tonight, they looked exactly the same, bar down."

Ducks coach Joel Quenneville did not sugarcoat it. "I thought our top guys weren't very good tonight," he said. Anaheim (4-4-0) has lost three straight.

Road test next

The Rangers (7-3-1) hit the road for Toronto on Thursday and Ottawa on Saturday, then put that perfect Garden record on the line against the Kings on Oct. 26.