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

This was a game that felt like the playoffs.  Both the New York Rangers and the Columbus Blue Jackets played with that kind of intensity and the Blueshirts won it with a goal with only three minutes left in the game.

David Quinn constantly talks about battle levels and the need to compete.  After this game he has to be pleased.  The New York Rangers battled on the boards and in front of the net and they played the perfect road game against an outstanding defensive team.  It’s their first four game winning streak since November 2018, and they have now won five in a row on the road.

It was a great effort and since the All-Star break, the Rangers have won seven of nine games and have made talk of the playoffs much more than just wishful thinking.

Alexandar Georgiev got the nod in goal for the second straight night and he was outstanding. He stopped 36 of 37 shots in getting his 14th win of the season.  The question coming out of this game is who David Quinn will turn to on Sunday when the Boston Bruins come to Madison Square Garden.  Although he declared Shesterkin his number one goalie,  this was a statement game for Georgiev.

The game was a tale of special teams with the Rangers winning the battle.  The key for them was killing a double minor in the second period.  Chris Kreider’s game winning goal was essentially a power play goal as he scored two seconds after a Columbus penalty expired.

It was the second straight game that came down to the last few minutes of the third period and at last, the Rangers are showing a will to win that wasn’t present in the beginning of the season.  Their confidence has never been higher and Sunday’s match with the Bruins should be a doozy.

They did without Anthony DeAngelo as he sat out the game, suffering the effects of a hard check he threw in the third period of the Minnesota game.  Marc Staal returned from his bout with the flu so Brendan Smith played his second good game, this time on the right side.

With the win, the Rangers closed to within seven points of the Blue Jackets, who occupy the final wild card spot.  The key is that the Blueshirts have two games in hand and are healthy while the Blue Jackets are definitely showing the effects of the boatload of injuries that they have suffered.

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.