It was the first period heard round the NHL.
The Rangers, skating on the second night of a back-to-back schedule, scored six goals within the first 13:36 of the game en route to a 7-0 demolition of the Predators on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
They hung six on the Penguins through two periods the night before, but needed less than 20 minutes in a single frame this time around to match that scoring onslaught.
On Saturday, it was Igor Shesterkin blanking Pittsburgh.
On Sunday, it was Jaroslav Halak shutting out Nashville with 22 saves.
The goals came at a rapid-fire pace for the Rangers, who have now outscored opponents 13-0 in their last two games.
Shot after shot. Goal after goal. Win after win.
The Rangers’ first six goals tied the franchise record for the most in an opening period. The last time the club put on that kind of show was Dec. 15, 1999 against the Kings.
And, boy, was it a performance you couldn’t take your eyes off.
Filip Chytil was the opening act.
Snapping an 18-game scoring drought, Chytil took the puck right down Broadway, turned Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro inside out and then buried it for the 1-0 lead.
The Czech center was so caught up in the play he ended up in Nashville’s net himself, but emerged with an outstretched smile on his face.
Mika Zibanejad and Tyler Motte each recorded one-timers to inflate the Rangers lead to 2-0 and 3-0, respectively.
During four-on-four play later in the period, K’Andre Miller scored the first of his two goals. Taking a feed from Vincent Trocheck, the Rangers defenseman buried the puck on the two-on-one rush.
The hook came out for Predators netminder Kevin Lankinen after that one.
Juuse Saros entered in relief, but it didn’t slow things down for Nashville.
Lankinen, who finished with a single save, became the second goalie the Rangers ran off the ice in as many games.
Miller then capped the first-period scoring, netting a shot from long range to give the Rangers a 6-0 lead.
He notched two assists in addition to his two goals, which made Miller the first defenseman in Rangers history to record four points in a single period.
The spotlight shined on Artemi Panarin during the power play, when the Russian winger played with the puck before recording the Rangers’ fifth goal of the night.
All six scores came on consecutive shots.
One after the other.
The Predators may have been without key players such as Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen, but that many goals are difficult to keep up with no matter what.
Chris Kreider finished it off with his fourth goal in the last three games at 9:02 of the second period, when the left wing cleaned up a second rebound following shots from Trocheck and Jacob Trouba.
Dating back to the 4-2 win over Pittsburgh earlier this week, the Rangers have scored 15 unanswered goals, which are the most consecutive goals by an NHL team this season.
Everything has been going in for them the last two games.
These are the contests where unwavering confidence is born.
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