Igor Shesterkin blanks Sharks in return in Rangers’ 3-0 win

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Igor Shesterkin made 37 saves in his return from COVID-19 protocol, Braden Schneider scored in his NHL debut and the New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Thursday night.

“A lot of the credit has to go to Shesterkin,” acting Rangers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There were a lot of Grade A scoring chances and he came up with some big saves.”

Chris Kreider got his first career short-handed goal and an empty-netter to reach 200 goals as the Rangers followed up a 1-0 victory over the Sharks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3 with another shutout less than six weeks later.

Adin Hill stopped 27 shots for the Sharks, who failed in their attempt to match a season-high four-game winning streak. San Jose has lost seven straight against the Rangers.

“We’ve got to score to win,” coach Bob Boughner said. “Tonight I thought we played a good game. I didn’t think we shot ourselves in the foot or got dominated. We fought hard and the difference I think was giving up a shorty. … We battled hard, we just couldn’t find any offense. It wasn’t from a lack of trying.”

Shesterkin was activated from the COVID-19 list earlier in the day and was sharp in his first action since Jan. 2, when he had a 38-save shutout against Tampa Bay.

He stopped Andrew Cogliano on a breakaway in the second and then made another big stop late in the period on a deflection from Tomas Hertl.

“In the first period, I was a little nervous,” Shesterkin said. “But when I stopped a couple of shots the nerves go out.”

Shesterkin had 19 saves in the first meeting with the Sharks before leaving early in the third period with a lower-body injury.

“Shesterkin is really, really good,” Sharks forward Nick Bonino said. “Shut us out twice this year. We had some Grade A looks but he’s never caught out of position.”

Kreider gave the Rangers the lead in the first period when he converted just seconds after Ryan Strome went to the penalty box for…