NEW YORK -- The old Henrik Lundqvist is once again looking like the young Henrik Lundqvist.

The 34-year-old goaltender turned aside 36 shots as both he and the New York Rangers earned their third straight victory, a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

On Tuesday, Lundqvist hit rock bottom when he allowed seven goals on 27 shots in a 7-6 loss to the Dallas Stars. Both he and his teammates, who provided little defensive resistance against the Stars, have risen to the occasion since; Lundqvist has turned aside 80 of 84 shots over the past three games and despite the quantity from the Kings, there wasn't much in the way of quality.

Lundqvist's save percentage has climbed from .902 to .905, so while he's well off his career numbers, he's now trending in the right direction with one more game before the All-Star break.

"I simplified my focus three games ago," Lundqvist said. "It helps me be on my toes a little bit. The way I can describe it is I just try to simplify everything and have a little higher readiness than before."

Lundqvist's best and most important saves came against Kings' leading scorer Jeff Carter in the first period. Lundqvist flashed a pad on a rebound chance to keep the game scoreless, then denied Carter on a short-handed breakaway to preserve the Rangers' 1-0 advantage.

"In the first period, you want to set the tone, get a good feeling, and build off that," Lundqvist said. "That was important for us to not get behind and for me to build that confidence that I started three games ago."

"He made some big saves," the Kings' Tanner Pearson said, "but when the pucks are there we have to find ways to put them in."

The Kings held an 11-1 shots advantage when Brandon Pirri capitalized on a turnover to put the Rangers ahead 1-0 in the first period. Matt Puempel's second-period goal off a 2-on-1 rush with 6:32 remaining gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead on the team's eighth shot of the game.

Eight shots exaggerate just how much offense the Rangers generated through nearly 35 minutes, as two of those registered shots included soft dump-ins that were graciously counted as shots.

The Kings dominated territorially for 40 minutes but only had Jordan Nolan's goal late in the second period to show for it.

"We wanted to make sure we didn't get hurt early on and we might have given up some shots but they weren't necessarily grade-A looks," Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. "We spent a lot of time in our own zone but did a good job protecting the front of the net and blocked a lot of shots."

"I think we have good game plans going into each game and when we execute them, we're a good team," said Pearson, whose Kings have lost four straight and sit outside a playoff spot in the West. "When we don't, we can be sloppy at times and turn the puck over. It cost us goals at moments."

Mats Zuccarello's goal -- which proved to be the game-winner when Kyle Clifford scored with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation-- was the result of a giveaway by goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who stopped 14 shots. Zatkoff handed the puck behind the net to the Rangers' J.T. Miller, who fed Zuccarello for his first goal since Dec. 15.

"We played a good team," Zuccarello said. "We were not up to our standards but I think it's important to get a win like that when you're not playing your best. (Lundqvist) was amazing. ... He's our most important player. We didn't give him enough help there for a stretch. He knew he needed to be better, but everybody goes through slumps during the season.

"In my opinion, he's the best goalie in the world and he showed that tonight."

NOTES: Kings D Matt Greene, who has played once since Jan. 7, is shut down because of lingering back issues, coach Darryl Sutter said. ... Los Angeles scratched D Tom Gilbert and C Nic Dowd. ... Rangers C Kevin Hayes will miss two to three weeks with a lower-body injury he sustained during a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. ... New York RW Jesper Fast (upper body) missed his third consecutive game, and G Antti Raanta (lower body) missed his fourth straight game. ... Rangers D Marc Staal, out since Jan. 3 with a concussion, could return soon but won't play Wednesday, coach Alain Vigneault said.