Rangers vs Blue Jackets: Rangers Fight Back But Fall to Blue Jackets 7-5
Just 24 hours after beating the New York Islanders with a late third period goal, the New York Rangers fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets by a final score of 7-5. Alexandar Georgiev had plenty of action throughout tonight’s game and turned away 33 of the 40 shots he faced this evening. The Rangers fought back late in the third period to come within a goal, but Nick Foligno iced the game with the Blue Jacket’s seventh goal of the game.
1-0 Rangers
Ryan Strome (7) - Filip Chytil (9) & Jesper Fast (10) - 4:34 1st Period
Coming off of a feel-good win over the New York Islanders, the Rangers came out early in this game and jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Ryan Strome and Filip Chytil were able to connect on a 2-on-1 rush into the offensive zone, and Chytil setup Strome off to the left side of the net.
1-1 Tie
Artemi Panarin (17) - Cam Atkinson (20) & Pierre-Luc Dubois (24) - 5:08 1st Period
Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Blue Jackets almost immediately responded following Strome’s opening goal as Artemi Panrin scored off of the faceoff. Cam Atkinson was able to tap the puck over to Panarin following the faceoff win by Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Panarin walked in all alone in front of the net. Panarin was able to snipe the puck over Georgiev’s shoulder and tied the game up at 1-1.
2-1 Blue Jackets
Anthony Duclair (10) - Marcus Nutivaara (11) & Ryan Murray (20) - 8:55 1st Period
Nearly four minutes later, the Blue Jackets took their first lead of the evening as Anthony Duclair picked up his 10th goal of the season. Duclair absolutely burned Kevin Shattenkirk on the zone entry, out-muscled him on his way to the net, and flipped the puck over Georgiev’s shoulder to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead.
2-2 Tie
Chris Kreider (21) - Boo Nieves (3) & Alexandar Georgiev (2) - 17:56 1st Period
Chris Kreider made things interesting later on in the first period, and tied the game heading into the first intermission. Similar to his assist against the Islanders, Boo Nieves fought off several defenders before slipping the puck over to Chris Kreider in a crowd of players. Kreider was able to skate onto the loose puck, and snapped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game up at two.
3-2 Blue Jackets
Cam Atkinson (26) - Zack Werenski (17) - 14:00 2nd Period
After a lull in the action, the Blue Jackets regained their one goal lead just past the halfway mark in the second period. Cam Atkinson was able to deflect Zack Werenski’s point shot off of an offensive zone faceoff, and redirected the puck under Georgiev’s glove hand.
4-2 Blue Jackets
Lukas Sedlak (2) - Oliver Bjorkstrand (7) & Riley Nash (4) - 17:49 2nd Period
Atkinson’s prior goal clearly gave the Blue Jackets some life, and a little under four minutes later, the Blue Jackets doubled up their lead. Lukas Sedlak was able to create some space in the neutral zone for himself, and Oliver Bjorkstrand fed him with a crisp, tape-to-tape pass out to Sedlak. Georgiev didn’t stand much of a chance on the goal, and the Blue Jackets appeared poised to take a two-goal lead into the third period.
4-3 Blue Jackets
Mats Zuccarello (6) - Mika Zibanejad (25) - 18:58 2nd Period
Mats Zuccarello had other ideas though, and nearly a minute later, brought the Rangers back within a goal and gave them some hope. Zuccarello was able to corral a puck off of a faceoff win by Mika Zibanejad, and immediately fired a shot through Sergei Bobrovsky to bring the Rangers back within a goal.
5-3 Blue Jackets
Nick Foligno (11) - Ryan Murray (21) & Josh Anderson (6) - 19:58 2nd Period
With the Rangers closing out the period with a big goal from Mats Zuccarello, Nick Foligno crushed their confidence as he redirected home a puck with two seconds remaining. There was a ton of traffic in front of Alexandar Georgiev, and somehow the puck slipped through everyone for Foligno’s redirection.
6-3 Blue Jackets
David Savard (3) - Artemi Panarin (33) - 5:29 3rd Period
Early in the third period, David Savard put up an insurance marker for the Blue Jackets as he sniped home a shot after receiving a pass from Artemi Panarin. Savard barely had much of an angle on the shot, and somehow slipped the puck between Georgiev’s shoulder and the post.
6-4 Blue Jackets
Mats Zuccarello (7) - Unassisted - 15:00 3rd Period
Mats Zuccarello started the Rangers comeback late in the third period after he deflected a shot off of Sergei Bobrovsky’s back and into the net. Kevin Shattenkirk was able to generate the initial rebound with a hard wrist shot from the high slot, and that paved the way for Zuccarello to chip home the loose puck.
6-5 Blue Jackets
Jimmy Vesey (11) - Brendan Smith (6) - 16:48 3rd Period
Jimmy Vesey quickly gave the Rangers some hope again in this game as he located a loose puck in the crease, and made it a 6-5 game. Much like the previous goal, Bobrovsky was unable to control a point shot by Brendan Smith, and suddenly the Rangers had a chance in this game.
7-5 Blue Jackets
Nick Foligno (12) - Unassisted - 18:14 3rd Period
However, Nick Foligno played spoiler in this game yet again as he found a way to ice the game with under two minutes remaining. Foligno was able to outwork Jimmy Vesey behind the net, and beat Georgiev from a ridiculous angle to give the Blue Jackets a 7-5 lead.
Following a high-scoring loss to the Blue Jackets, the Rangers will have a scheduled off day tomorrow before returning to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
