The Rangers move closer to the wild card spot after destroying the Senators

The Rangers are firmly entrenched in the Eastern Conference wild card race and are making their push.

A 5-0 win for the Senators on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden extended their season-best point streak to nine games. The win not only gave the Blueshirts a mere two-point lead over the second wild card spot, but also prevented Ottawa, currently in first place, from increasing its lead.

Every time the Rangers took the ice since the start of the new year, there was an aura of the big game.

This is what happens when your season is on the verge of failure and you struggle to make up for it.

However, the Rangers have tended to heed that call consistently in these high-risk contests, allowing them to claw their way back into contention after their season had all but stalled.

“Defensively, I think it was one of the best games of the season,” goalie Igor Shesterkin said after making 20 saves to extend his shutout streak to 164-43 in a 1-0 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Tuesday night was a tough win for the Rangers, who stayed on course despite conceding two goals in the first two periods of the game.

All this against a Senators team that had won five of its last six games heading into the matchup.

The shutout win was the second time in the last three games for the Rangers and the fifth time this season. Shesterkin also had back-to-back shutouts for the fifth time in his career.

The Rangers went scoreless and then took a 2-0 lead when Ottawa successfully called for offside on both occasions, the first an early goal by Sam Carrick and the second a sharpshooter by Arthur Kaliyev.

Instead of letting their frustration out on the ice, they continued to apply pressure offensively and were rewarded for it.

After Kaliyev made it 2-0 in the game less than two minutes into the midfield, the Rangers fended off two consecutive Senators power plays to take the lead in the third period.

Adam Edstrom then fed Matt Rempe, who fired a backhander past Ottawa goalkeeper Anton Forsberg, giving the Blueshirts the final goal with three goals.

“In the back of your mind you think it’s one of those nights,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of the two missed goals. “But our guys were just very focused. I really enjoyed the work.”

A riot that broke out after Brady Tkachuk hit Shesterkin added some adrenaline to the game, but only the home team benefited.

After Shesterkin hounded Tkachuk for the infraction and the Rangers earned a power play, Michael Amadio knocked Russia’s star goalie to the ground behind his net, forcing the Senators into a five-on-three defense for 33 seconds.

Artemi Panarin then scored his 20th goal of the season against Forsberg to give them a 4-0 lead, before Will Cuylle took advantage shortly afterwards with a five-on-four lead.

“I just got a couple hits from Tkachuk,” Shesterkin said. “To be honest, that (from him) hit me. I didn’t really enjoy it because I was between the pipe and him. I didn’t want to jump there, but I saw him get caught up in a fight (inaudible) between our husband and her husband, so I just tried to hold him, but he wanted to fight. It’s hard for me because I can’t drop my gloves. If I do that, I’ll go to the locker room.”