Another blown lead, another overtime loss as Columbus beats the New York Rangers 4-3

For the sixth time in nine games, the New York Rangers went to overtime.  For the fifth time, they came out of it with only one point. For the sixth time in the last seven losses the Rangers had a lead and blew it. Playoff hopes are slipping away.

It’s becoming an automatic reaction.  A New York Rangers lead late in the third period is a cue for  fans to cover their eyes or shrug with the realization that the lead will soon be gone. While better than being blown out, these losses are incredibly frustrating. Thursday night, as expected, it happened again though it was just a little more painful than usual.

The first period was less than inspiring as both teams had to shake off the effects of the holiday break.  Play was sloppy, conservative and boring.  The Rangers managed only two shots in the first nine minutes.

At 9:17, Oliver Borkstrand scored to give Columbus the lead and it was Kevin Hayes who was the culprit.  Instead of exiting the zone, he tried for a pass that was intercepted.  He got the puck back, but was stripped and Boone Jenner hit a wide open Oliver Borkstrand for an easy goal.

At 13:59 the game turned around on the Rangers’ first solid offensive opportunity of the match. Vlad Namestnikov took the puck away in the Rangers zone and got the puck to Kevin Hayes who made a lovely pass to Jimmy Vesey who put into the goal for his first score in nine games.

Hayes clearly made up for his mistake on the Blue Jackets goal with his pass and the assist extended his career high point scoring streak to eight games.

Two minutes later, the Rangers gave the lead right back to Columbus when defenseman David Savard scored a goal that Lundqvist should have stopped. It was an end to end rush for the Columbus defender.  He wasn’t pressured by Brady Skjei when he got into the Ranger zoneand he put a snap shot past Lundqvist off the far post.

The Rangers escaped further damage with the Blue Jackets holding a 6-5 shot advantage in the period.

In the second period, the Rangers got on the board almost immediately.  At 1:38, Scott Harrington was called for boarding Pavel Buchnevich. Seven seconds later, Zibanejad won the faceoff, got the puck to Hayes who passed to Zuccarello who took the shot which Chris Kreider deflected  past Joonas Korpisalo.

There was no scoring the rest of the second period.  Lundqvist made a great stop on a wide open Anthony Duclair who was set up by a pass from Alex Wennberg.

The Zibanjad line had a great shift at the 11 minute mark.  Seth Jones saved a goal when he tipped a pass intended for a wide open Filip Chytil.

There were some anxious moments for the Rangers mostly due to the long change.   They were pinned in their zone for an extended period leading to a two and a half minute shift for Brendan Smith. Right after that , Brady Skjei broke his stick and that led to another scary few seconds and then Lundqvist made a sparkling glove save on a Duclair shot. The period ended with a 12-11 shot advantage for Columbus.

It was clear that neither team wanted to make a mistake in the third period.  There were very few opportunities for New York while Columbus had the better chances.  At 4:32, Brendan Smith was called for hooking, the first penalty taken by the Rangers.  Lundqvist made some outstanding saves including a left pad save on Cam Atkinson. The Rangers had their best offense of the period while killing the penalty as Hayes and Vesey both had shots.

The penalty kill clearly had an effect on the team and the Garden crowd and the Rangers controlled play when a dynamic rush by Brady Skjei led to Kreider’s second goal of the game.

It was a broken play as Skjei went end to end with the puck, tried to dish a pass to Kevin Hayes only to see it blocked and bounce right to Kreider who scored.

With about four minutes left, the Rangers thought they had a two goal lead when they scored what they thought was their fourth goal.  Vlad Namestnikov made a beautiful pass to Ryan Strome, streaking to the net, who put the puck past Korpisalo, but upon review it was called offside.  Strome’s back leg was over the blue line, but off the ice surface so the goal was disallowed. So much for the two goal lead.

They needed it.  With 2:20 left in the game, Jimmy Vesey had a chance to exit the Rangers’ zone, but tried to pass and Columbus was able to intercept and as a result, the Rangers were forced to ice the puck.  After the faceoff,  the Blue Jackets tied the score on a slapshot by Zach Werenski that hit Marc Staal on the way in and deflected past Lundqvist.

It was a bad faceoff as Boone Jenner deflected the puck to Werenski before it hit the ice.  The Rangers complained, but to no avail.   It meant another overtime, their sixth in the last nine games.

32 seconds into the overtime, Pierre-Luc Dubois drove to the next and won the game.  He caught Kevin Hayes flatfooted in center ice and got ahead of the Ranger center, drove to the net and took the shot. Lundqvist got a piece, but it bounced over his right arm and into the net.

So, the Rangers were 2:20 from a win and they couldn’t seal the deal. Again.