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NASHVILLE -- Cam Talbot wasnt tested often, yet the New York Rangers rookie turned aside everything the Nashville Predators threw at him. The backup goalie made 17 saves to record his second consecutive shutout, and the Rangers beat the Predators 2-0 on Saturday night. "I could get used to this," Talbot said. Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers, who have won the first two games of a five-game road trip. Mats Zuccarello assisted on both goals for New York, which has won six consecutive road games. Talbot got the start over resting No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the second straight Saturday night and didnt let any pucks get past him. He has a shutout streak of 146 minutes, 28 seconds. Nashvilles season-best, three-game winning streak was snapped. McDonagh gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 13:13 of the second period. From the centre of the blue line, defenceman Dan Girardi sent a one-timer toward the Nashville net. In the slot, McDonagh tipped the puck past goalie Marek Mazanec for his fifth goal of the season. "G had a lot of time. I knew he was going to get a puck going to the net," McDonagh said. "Weve talked about getting deflections and dirty goals, and I just happened to be in the right spot there. It was a great shot." Girardi has an assist in consecutive games. "They played a little bit better and won a few more battles," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I give them some credit, and we have to be better than we were tonight or we are not going to beat a team that plays as well as they do." Stepan doubled New Yorks lead at 7:45 of the third. Skating down the left side on a 2-on-1, Zuccarello slid a pass to Stepan on the right side, where he put the puck past the diving Mazanec for his fifth goal. "Our guys were focused and ready right from the start, and they executed really well," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "They managed the puck well and obviously we didnt give Nashville a whole lot as far as scoring opportunities. "We were able to generate quite a few and score two goals." Talbot, in his first game since recording his first NHL shutout on Nov. 16 at Montreal, made five saves in the first period, seven in the second, and five in the third to improve to 5-1 this season. Talbot played collegiate hockey at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, which is just 100 miles south of Nashville. "Its nice to be back down south, Ive always loved it down here," Talbot said. "It was fun to get the start down here." Nashville hit the goal post twice late in the third period, one off of the stick of captain Shea Weber, and the other Matt Cullens deflection of Webers shot. "Ive got to find a way to get those in and keep getting pucks to the front of the net," Weber said. "We had good traffic on a couple of them, but we werent able to sink them." Mazanec made 32 saves in the loss. Nashville lost right wing Patric Hornqvist in the first period to an upper-body injury. He played just four shifts in the first period, with his final one ending at 13:06. Hornqvist entered Saturday tied for the Nashville lead with six goals. NOTES: Nashville LW Eric Nystrom returned to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. ... The Rangers are 94-0-6 in their last 100 regular-season games in which they led after two periods. ... New York has won four straight in Nashville. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . Mission accomplished. Now the Royals will take the field on Saturday with a World Series lead for the first time in team history when they play Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Giants at AT&T Park. NFL Jerseys From China . Picard had a goal and two assists to help Canada improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Seven different players scored for the two-time defending champions. "Today all four lines played excellent," said head coach Laura Schuler. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ . -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon. Cheap Jerseys Review . - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . -- Nick Bjugstad snapped out of his scoring slump and spoiled Drew MacIntyres first NHL start. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cam Atkinson believes the Columbus Blue Jackets are getting better. But hes also realizes just how far they have to go. "We got a little taste of what we wanted in making the playoffs," the 24-year-old winger said the day after the Blue Jackets were eliminated in Game 6 of their wild first-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. "We just won two games. Its a stepping stone." For years an NHL doormat, the Blue Jackets are both inspired and also realistic after the best season in the franchises mostly rocky 13 seasons. "I heard on the radio the other day that Game 4 is one of the great sports moments in this city," forward Mark Letestu said, referring to a three-goal comeback at home that was capped by a last-minute tying goal in regulation and Nick Folignos overtime winner. "I think theres a lot more that we can give. We can give series victories and further cement the Blue Jackets in the hearts of people here. Thats whats on guys minds right now." It was a season of firsts for the Blue Jackets, who have spent much of their existence toward the bottom of the NHL standings. They set club records with 43 regular-season wins, 21 road victories, 93 points and 231 goals. They had made the playoffs just once previously and their stay lasted only four games, all losses. But one of the leagues youngest teams overcame a 5-10-0 start with a strong finish to clinch a playoff spot. Then, they won Games 2 and 4 against the Penguins with stirring comebacks. In Monday nights Game 6, they were outclassed early and trailed 4-0 heading into the final period before scoring three goals in a 4:52 span to energize a crowd of 19,189 that stood and roared throughout the final minutes. The 4-3 defeat left them disappointed, but most will likely only remember the Jackets scrambling at the finish for a possible tying goal while the Penguins struggled to hold them off. "The building was rocking," defenceman Jack Johnson said. "But theres going to be a lot more and better times ahead." Beyond everything else they accomplished, they gave ttheir patient followers some hope.dddddddddddd Over their past 111 games, the Blue Jackets are 62-37-12 -- far and away the best such span in the franchises history, and exceeded by only seven other teams in the league. "Its been great to see where we came from halfway through last season to where we are now and how excited the city gets," said fourth-line centre Derek MacKenzie, an unrestricted free agent this summer. "Weve already talked about that. What would it be like if we could have a great start? Is that arena going to be like that all season long? We sure hope so." The Blue Jackets poor history has become, well, old news. "Everybody hears about the past," said rookie defenceman Ryan Murray, taken No. 2 in the 2012 draft. "It hasnt been very good. Everybody thats here now just wants to change that, to change the culture and bring in more fans and change the city into a hockey town." Judging from the capacity crowds down the stretch and in the playoffs, and the excitement generated around this city of 787,000. For the past few weeks, the Blue Jackets have been the talk of the town, pulling off a rare coup by bumping Ohio State football off the front page of the local newspaper. Now that the Blue Jackets have stamped themselves as a good team, the hard part is getting better. "I dont think were going to catch anybody by surprise anymore," defenceman James Wisniewski said. "Everybody realizes the identity that weve created here, that its going to be a hard-fought game and that theyre going to have to bring their A game or were going to run them out of the building." Many of the Blue Jackets had already shaved off their playoff beards before meetings with the coaching staff on Tuesday morning. Several of the younger players were barely able to grow one. So now a team that didnt know what it was missing when it didnt make the playoffs is disappointed that it has been eliminated. "Ill be watching (the playoffs) for sure," Atkinson said. "What else is there to do now? You wish you could be playing." ' ' '