SUNRISE, Fla. -- Florida Panthers defenseman Willie Mitchell has issued a warning to his teammates.

"We've done nothing yet," said Mitchell, the Panthers' 38-year-old captain, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings. "We've just climbed a couple small hills."

The Panthers scaled another few feet on Saturday night, defeating the New York Rangers 3-0 at BB&T Center.

Florida set a franchise record with its eighth straight win.

"We should be proud of the way we've played," Mitchell said. "Hopefully, we've gained the respect of our peers."

That's no doubting it now that the surprising Panthers (22-12-4) lead the Atlantic Division with 48 points.

Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo made 39 saves to earn his 71st career shutout. He is tied for 11th on the NHL's list for shutouts, and he broke his franchise mark for consecutive wins by a goalie (seven).

Luongo, who got the best of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (15 saves), said he heard the loud crowd of 20,289 -- a season high as fans continue to climb on the Florida bandwagon.

"There has been a buzz going on for a while now," Luongo said. "The last few games have felt like the playoffs."

Florida got three goals in a 12-minute span, receiving scores from right winger Logan Shaw, center Vincent Trocheck and center Brandon Pirri.

That was more than enough to subdue the Rangers (21-14-4), who had won seven straight games against Florida.

This is a different Rangers team, however -- 5-11-2 in their past 18 games.

Florida scored first, getting a goal from Shaw with just 25 seconds remaining in the opening period. Rangers right winger Emerson Etem made a poor clearing pass that was picked off by Panthers center Corbin Knight, who fed the puck to Shaw on the doorstep for his fourth goal of the season.

"I just tried to be square," Lundqvist said of his positioning, "but he beat me."

The Panthers are 18-3-2 when they get the game's first goal.

"It's pretty special to a part of this," Shaw said of the Florida winning streak. "It was a heck of a play by Corbin."

Florida made it 2-0 with 15:19 left in the second period on Trocheck's 11th goal. The Rangers were caught in a mistimed line change and had to scramble. Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic took a slap shot that was blocked by Lundqvist, but the puck bounced in off Trocheck's leg.

"That was a bad bounce for us," Lundqvist said. "(But the Panthers) have some skilled guys."

The Panthers made it 3-0 in the second period after a hooking penalty on Etem. On the power play, Pirri scored in the slot after a great cross-ice pass from right winger Reilly Smith. It was Pirri's eighth goal.

"(The Rangers) are a quick team. We know we can't give them any chances on turnovers," Pirri said. "We kept it simple."

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said he saw some positives in terms of the number of shots his team produced. But he found fault with New York's inability to finish its opportunities, especially on the power play, which went 0-for-5.

"There's no question that Luongo had a great game, but we had to find a way to make it harder on him, set better screens and get more people at the net," Vigneault said. "We had some looks, but we couldn't capitalize.

"The effort is there. The preparation is there. But it's about results. Our execution offensively was a little bit off."

NOTES: This was Florida's first win against the Rangers since April 23, 2013. ... Florida extended the contracts of Panthers GM Dale Tallon and coach Gerard Gallant through 2019. Tallon, 65, has been with the team since 2010 after building the Chicago Blackhawks into a Stanley Cup champion. Only D Dimitry Kulikov remains of the players Tallon inherited. ... Florida also appointed Tom Rowe, 59, associate general manager. He had been serving as coach of the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. ... Going strictly by calendar years, the Rangers led the NHL in regular season/playoff wins in 2014 (58) and 2015 (65). ... Rangers D Dan Girardi has been playing with a cracked kneecap. ... Rangers LW Kevin Hayes, who has been criticized by coach Alain Vigneault for a lack of effort, was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. ... C Nick Bjugstad, who led the Panthers with 24 goals last season, has been out since Nov. 30 due to migraines but is close to a return.