Rangers’ Jonathan Quick earns his third shutout of season in win over Predators

These types of games are ones the Rangers have to win. They can’t afford to slip up against struggling teams, playing on the second night of back-to-backs. So the Blueshirts did what they had to do Sunday night at home by dispatching the lowly Nashville Predators, 4-0, to pick up two essential points in their fierce battle to find a way into the playoffs.

Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller and K’Andre Miller and Brett Berard scored goals and goaltender Jonathan Quick, playing in his 800th game, made 34 saves (to earn his third shutout of the season and 63rd of his career) as the Rangers (30-26-4, 64 points) pulled within two points of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers play the Islanders on Monday at the Garden.

The Rangers, who on Saturday traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren and winger Jimmy Vesey to Colorado for young forward Juuso Parssinen and veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan and a couple of draft picks, had both of their new players in the lineup. Nashville (21-32-7) was without star defenseman Roman Josi, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday with an upper-body injury.

The Rangers, trying to rebound after a disappointing loss to Toronto Friday, had the edge in possession and shots (28-15) through the first two periods. Nashville had 19 shots in the third period.

Panarin’s goal in the first period got the Rangers off to a good start, and quick goals early in the second by J.T. Miller and K’Andre Miller, put them firmly in control.

But Quick, who didn’t have a lot to do in the first period, had to be sharp in the last 30 or so minutes of the game. He had one lunging stick save early in the third period on a rebound attempt by Nashville’s Nick Blankenburg, right by the right goalpost. Then he made great bang-bang saves on Filip Forsberg and then Jonathan Marchessault on a shot-rebound-shot sequence on the Predators’ power play early in the third period.

The fans got a jolt when Matt Rempe slammed Blankenburg into the end boards and then had to fight Predators defenseman Andreas Englund early in the first period. Both players were bloodied in a long fight that saw Englund get assessed an instigator penalty while Rempe got an extra two minutes for elbowing Blankenburg.

That could draw some supplemental discipline from the league, especially since Rempe has already been suspended once this season, for eight games for his hit on Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen in mid-December. He was suspended for four games last season for a hit on Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler.

Panarin got the Rangers on the scoreboard when he blasted a slapshot past goalie Justus Annunen at 8:32. The goal was Panarin’s first point in three games and his first goal in seven.

They made it 2-0 on a power-play goal by J.T. Miller at 1:02 of the second period, on a redirect of a feed from Panarin. K’Andre Miller then made it 3-0 at 3:25, when he took a pass from J.T. Miller and roofed a backhander for his fifth goal of the season.

Blue notes

Sam Carrick played in his 300th game . . . Parssinen and de Haan both had six hits, which tied for the team high . . . Panarin had a team-high seven shots on goal.