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NEW YORK -- Chris Kreider scored twice, Mika Zibanejad had three assists and Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves as the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night.
Alexis Lafreniere, Frank Vatrano and newcomer Andrew Copp also scored for the Rangers, who scored three times in the first four-plus minutes of the game against Penguins goalie Tristian Jarry, who entered with a five-game winning streak and a 7-1-0 mark in his last eight appearances.
Jeff Carter scored Pittsburgh's lone goal six minutes into the third.
The Rangers recovered from Tuesday's 7-4 road loss to the Devils with a convincing performance against the Penguins, a potential first-round playoff opponent making their first visit to Madison Square Garden this season.
"We had a lot of jump, an outstanding start,'' Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "I was really happy with how we played all night."
Shesterkin won for the 31st time as he allowed two or fewer goals for the 12th time in his last 16 starts.
The Rangers have won five of their last seven games and eight of 12. New York also continued its dominant play at home, improving to 8-2-1 in its last 11 at the Garden and 21-6-3 overall. The Rangers play 11 of their remaining 17 games at home.
The Penguins arrived with a league-best 21-7-5 road record and an 11-2-3 mark in their previous 16 games against the Rangers, who seized control by scoring three times in the opening 4:16.
"We came out strong and on our toes. Especially at home, that's a great start,'' Zibanejad said. "That was a big game against these guys."
Lafreniere started the early barrage at 2:07, sliding the puck past Jarry for his 14th goal of the season. Lafreniere's new linemates on Friday -- Filip Chytil and Barclay Goodrow -- assisted. Lafreniere has a career-best five-game points streak.
"That was a nice play by Fil and I was lucky it went in,'' said Lafreniere, the first overall pick by the Rangers in 2020 who has a career-best 23 points in his second NHL season. "Every game you come to the rink you want to play your best game."
Kreider then electrified the Garden crowd at 3:58, taking a pass from Zibanejad before rifling a shot past Jarry.
The assist was Zibanejad's 500th career point.
Just 18 seconds later, Vatrano made it 3-0 for the home team with his 12th of the season and second goal as a Ranger since joining New York in a trade from Florida on March 16. It was the fifth-fastest three goals to start a game in franchise history.
The Penguins never recovered as the Rangers moved within a point of Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
"We got outplayed in every facet of the game. They were just way better than us in every area,'' Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We lacked awareness. We just weren't good in any aspect of the game."