Powered by three powerplay goals, the New York Rangers came back down two to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets by the final of 5-3.
- Columbus Blue Jackets, 3 (9-4-1, 19 points)
- New York Rangers, 5 (7-7-2, 16 points)
- CBJ Goals: Artemi Panarin (2), Josh Anderson (6), Oliver Bjorkstrand (5)
- NYR Goals: Michael Grabner (6), Kevin Shattenkirk (5), Chris Kreider (5), Pavel Buchnevich (6), Michael Grabner (7)
- Final, NHL, Boxscore
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
A comeback like this one is one to remember considering the fact that the New York Rangers were up against one of the hottest goalies in the league.
On a night where the Rangers honored Rick Nash for playing in his 1,000 career game, they came out with one of their best starts of the season.
They only ran into one problem, Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky was sensational during the first period, a period where the Rangers managed to outshoot Columbus 10-4.
Those 10 saves by the man they call “Bob” allowed for Columbus to come out regrouped and ready in the second period and they came out looking like the better team.
Former Chicago Blackhawk, Artemi Panarin got the scoring started just 38 seconds into the second period, getting one past Henrik Lundqvist for the 1-0 Columbus lead.
Columbus just poured it on after the Panarin goal and would take a 2-0 lead on a Josh Anderson goal, one that Lundqvist probably wants back.
The Rangers would try to mount a comeback but still had one thing going against them, Bobrovsky.
Even with Bobrovsky playing out of his mind, the Rangers would get one past the 29-year-old goaltender thanks to a great effort from J.T. Miller. Miller kept the play going and set up Michael Grabner to put the Rangers on the board.
The Rangers powerplay has been one of the best in the league this season and part of the has to do with Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk would convert on the power play again to tie the game at two 5:10 into the third period.
But Columbus would regain the lead just 2:51 after the Rangers tied it.
The Rangers power play was the difference in this game and this time Chris Kreider took advantage of a lucky bounce to tie things up.
And then Mika Zibanejad set up Pavel Buchnevich to put the Rangers on top.
The assist on the Buchnevich goal capped off a three-point night for Zibanejad who has really stepped his game up as of late. Zibanejad now has points in five of his last six games and leads the Rangers with 17 points.
The Blueshirts will look to extend their season-high four-game winning streak when the Boston Bruins come to the Garden on Wednesday Night Rivalry.