Rangers youngsters come up big in blowout win

It was a good night for the Yoots of Broadway.

Neal Pionk scored his first NHL goal and Alex Georgiev came within 4:34 of his first shutout in a 43-save, 5-1 Garden rout of the Sabres on Saturday night.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” said the smooth and poised Pionk, who converted Jimmy Vesey’s feed at 3:59 of the second to give the Blueshirts a 3-0 lead. “I went through the [handshake] line and took a deep breath.”

You don’t want to make too much out of a late-season audition when little is on the line from a team perspective, but the right handed Pionk looks like he might have some Brian Rafalski in him. The 22-year-old doesn’t carry a big frame, but he sees the ice well and the puck moves off his stick. He has 13 points in his past 12 games.

Georgiev was at his best early, when the sad-sack Sabres pumped 12 shots on him within the first 7:40 and 18 in the first 12:15.

“The biggest thing for me was just to play my game,” he said. “I tried to help the guys.”

The Blueshirts scored four goals on four shots in a span of 12:16 bridging the first and second periods to chase Linus Ullmark from the match.

Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad each continued their respective sprees while Vesey and Pionk also scored. Vesey got his second late in the second period to increase the lead to 5-0 and boost his total to 17 goals for the season, thereby surpassing last year’s production as a rookie.

The Sabres broke the shutout at 15:26 when Sam Reinhart scored on a power play deflection.

“I tried not to think about a shutout but it creeped into my mind,” said Georgiev. “Hopefully it can come next time.”

The Devils’ victory over the Lightning reduced Rangers’ tragic number for elimination to three points.

Zibanejad’s goal was his seventh over the past five straight games, the 10th in his last 11 and his 27th overall this season.

Ryan Lindgren made his pro debut in the AHL Wolf Pack’s 2-1 defeat to Hershey in Hartford on Saturday afternoon.