Alain Vigneault‘s New York Rangers were outmuscled and outworked by John Tortorella’s Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at MSG.
- New York Rangers 2 (40-20-2, 82 pts)
- Columbus Blue Jackets 5 (39-16-5, 83 pts)
- NHL, Metro, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Hey, at least the score wasn’t 7-0.
Shutout or not, the New York Rangers failed to pass an extremely important test on Sunday at Madison Square Garden when the Columbus Blue Jackets came to town. Actually, they were already in town as they beat up on the Islanders by that aforementioned final of 7-0 on Saturday. They simply went to Manhattan on Sunday to finish off the job.
John Tortorella’s squad outmuscled and outworked Alain Vigneault’s club from start to finish, resulting in a 5-2 victory.
Alexander Wennberg got the party started just 1:02 into the game with his 11th of the season:
10/10 tip, btw pic.twitter.com/CdXG40jh8Z
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 26, 2017
Just 3:05 later, Jimmy Vesey and Rick Nash responded to knot up the game at one:
Jimmy Vesey MUST stay in the top six. He's just not a Jesper Fast-type who thrives on 3rd or 4th line. Rick Nash buries it, 1-1 game. #NYR pic.twitter.com/Sj6IAyK4QH
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) February 26, 2017
From that moment on, Columbus dictated the terms of play. During one sequence in the second period with the score 2-1 in favor of the Jackets, Jesper Fast made a tremendous hustle play that set up Oscar Lindberg for a point-blank slot shot.
He hit the crossbar and that was the closest New York came to tying it up.
Wennberg scored his second of the contest in the second and the Jackets tallied three straight in the third period. Fast, who deserved it more than any Rangers, picked up a cheap one with under a second remaining in regulation.
Like Wennberg, Cam Atkinson also collected two goals.
Henrik Lundqvist, though he didn’t receive much help, could only stop 21-of-26 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky came up with 28 saves.
Next up for the Rangers will be Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
So Saad, such a shame. Henrik Lundqvist comes up huge on the penalty shot. #NYR pic.twitter.com/7JEHEUN02Q
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) February 26, 2017
Cam ❤️ NY pic.twitter.com/z6oxlUfWw2
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 26, 2017
.@CamAtkinson13 with his 28th of the season, a career high! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/AOirOQ37Me
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 26, 2017
BEAUTIFUL HANDS pic.twitter.com/W6hePms3y8
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 26, 2017
GOING UP pic.twitter.com/C6aOWf0SVT
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 27, 2017
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 27, 2017
