New York Rangers get their 4th in a row with 3-1 win over Columbus

The game

In our pre-game analysis, one of the things we focused on was the need for the Rangers to score first as Columbus usually wins when they get on the scoreboard first.  The Rangers must have been listening because it took them all of 22 seconds to score.

Mika Zibanejad won an offensive zone draw and got the puck back to Jacob Trouba on the point who unleashed a slap shot that Pavel Buchnevich deflected by Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins. With the Blue Jackets on their heels, the Rangers dominated play in the period, outshooting the Blue Jackets 11-6.

Merzlikins kept the Blue  Jackets in the game with saves like this one.

The period ended with the Rangers on the power play when Eric Robinson was called for tripping when it was actually Brady Skjei who tripped his own teammate.  It was a blatant missed call and we were treated to some classic John Tortorella angst.

The Rangers couldn’t click on the power play when it continued into the second period.  Play was even, much of a continuation of the first period until the turning point, a double minor penalty taken by Buchnevich. He was called for holding Zach Werenski and then got a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he complained to the refs too vociferously.  He had a point on the early call, it was barely a tug that caught Werenski off balance.  A cynic would think the refs were getting even for the missed call on the Blue Jackets.

It was a turning point and Georgiev had to come up big, but the Blueshirts were able to kill off the entire four minutes.  Unfortunately , the power play tilted the ice in the Blue Jackets favor and they dominated play.  It finally paid off when Oliver Bjorkstrand, the Ranger killer, chipped a backhand past Georgiev after a excellent shift in the Rangers’ zone. Georgiev was clearly caught by surprise, much as he was by the backhand goal he allowed in Minnesota.

So, the second period ended with the teams knotted 1-1 with Columbus holding a major edge in shots on goal, 22-7.  Georgiev really stood tall in this period as the Blue Jackets threw everything they had at the Rangers’ goal.

One note on the second period.  Ryan  Lindgren is one tough kid.  Midway through the period he took a puck to the face.  Bloodied and bent over, he continued to play and finished his shift by pummeling Pierre-Luc Dubois. On a comical note, after the Rangers killed off the four minute penalty, you could see Buchnevich clearly apologizing to his teammates for putting them in that position.

The third period was classic playoff style hockey.   It was much tighter defensively and the teams were scoreless until, with only 5:13 left in the game, the Blue Jackets took a too many men on the ice penalty.

The Ranger power play went to work and immediately gave up a breakaway to Boone Jenner.  Georgiev stood tall and forced him to take a shot that glanced off the outside of the post.   From that point on, the Rangers power play completely controlled play and demonstrated pinpoint passing.  Just when Ranger fans were  screaming “shoot,”  with the Columbus penalty killers totally gassed, Mika Zibanejad fed the puck to Chris Kreider who was parked alone in the slot and he one-timed it past Merzlikins.

It wasn’t a power play goal as the penalty expired two seconds before he scored, but it was a special teams goal and with only 3:11, it was left to the Rangers to protect their lead.

Ryan Strome iced the game with an empty net goal.

It was a completely unselfish play by Phil Di Giuseppe who had the puck and could have tried the shot, but instead fed it to Strome for his 14th goal of the season.

It was another satisfying late game win and another sign that this is growing up.  None of the games on this road trip were “easy” and the compete level was outstanding.