The Rangers started the final week of the regular season on the right foot Monday night in Columbus, skating to a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets and in the process clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
The win snapped a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) and moved the Rangers to within three points of idle Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division. New York will be heading to the post-season for the tenth time in the past eleven seasons.
“It’s a good feeling, for sure,” stated alternate captain Marc Staal. “We could’ve done it the past couple of games, but tonight we got the job done. We played well and deserve to get in (to the playoffs).”
However not all the news was good Monday. Team captain Ryan McDonagh did not play the final two periods due to an unspecified injury. It appeared he was hurt blocking a Brandon Dubinsky power play shot with his right arm/hand at roughly the 15-minute mark of the opening period. McDonagh dropped his stick at that point and was in obvious pain, though he did play his regular shifts the remainder of the period.
After the game head coach Alain Vigneault said that McDonagh will be further evaluated on Tuesday and that there is a good possibility a defenseman will be recalled from Hartford.
“Any time someone doesn’t come back it’s concerning, so hopefully it’s not serious and we can have him back very soon,” said Staal.
Henrik Lundqvist was a solid last line of defense for the Rangers on Monday, bouncing back in fine fashion after being pulled early in the second period of Saturday’s 4-3 home-ice loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Lundqvist made 27 saves, and benefited from some excellent work by his teammates in front of him.
The Rangers managed the puck much better against the Blue Jackets then they had in recent defeats against Carolina and Buffalo. They also possessed the puck much more and forced Columbus to defend the bulk of the opening two periods before the Blue Jackets surged in the final period of play.
“We’re in, and it’s just a really good feeling,” said Lundqvist. “It was great to see how we played, how determined we were, blocking a lot of shots. It makes a big difference. And we scored at the right times, as well. It was a hard-fought game and we stood up well.”
Chris Kreider, who finished with two points on the night, opened the scoring 6:17 into the first period. Kreider snapped a left wing shot off the rush which Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped with his pads, and Kreider burst to the slot to bury the rebound for his 20th goal of the season.
It marked the second straight season that Kreider reached 20 goals and 40 points. Derek Stepan earned the primary assist and registered his 300th career point; and Lundqvist picked up the secondary assist, his league-leading fourth among goaltenders this season.
The Rangers doubled their advantage on Dan Boyle’s unassisted goal 5:28 into the second period. After a long sustained shift in the offensive zone by Kevin Hayes’ line–one of several he, Eric Staal, and Jesper Fast had during the night–Boyle snuck a bad-angle right-wing shot through Korpisalo’s pads for his ninth goal, making the score 2-0.
While the Rangers captain was out of the game, Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno began to put his mark on the contest as the second period wore on. He ignited his team by hammering Marc Staal behind the goal line with a high, hard hit, proceeding to feed the dislodged puck out in front for a point-blank scoring chance for teammate Alexander Wennberg that was denied by Lundqvist at 12:24, his sharpest save of the night.
Staal went after Foligno after the whistle and was penalized for roughing. Seventeen seconds after the rangers killed off the penalty Foligno tipped a David Savard shot past Lundqvist,pulling the Blue Jackets to within a goal, 2-1.
Lundqvist and the Rangers survived the following surge by Columbus, and then Mats Zuccarello scored off a two-on-one rush with 1:46 to play in the period, restoring New York’s two-goal lead. Kreider used his strength to muscle the puck away along the left wing boards at center ice, and then used his speed to generate the odd-man rush with Zuccarello, whose initial shot was blocked, but when the rebound landed at his skates he blasted it past Korpisalo.
The goal was Zuccarello’s 26th on the season–a career-high, and he equaled his career-best of 59 points, which was established two seasons ago.
Foligno struck again to cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 with 9:45 remaining in regulation. He powered around Kevin Klein and drove to the net and through a maze of sticks and bodies he somehow managed to bank the puck in off of Lundqvist for his second goal of the game.
The Rangers killed off all four Columbus power plays during the game, including a pair in the third period. During the final power play, after Zuccarello was penalized for high-sticking at 17:57, Stepan stole the puck in his own end and finished off the game by scoring a shorthanded goal into the empty net at 18:49. The goal was his 20th of the season.
“We found a way to get it done,” summarized Eric Staal following the important victory on Monday.
A win and a playoff spot secured, the Rangers return home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com
(Reprinted with permission of the New York Rangers)
