One Point in The Big Apple

Rangers 3, Blue Jackets 2 OT

Solid penalty killing and sound defensive play kept Columbus in the game with the New York Rangers, but a cross-ice pass followed by a quick snap shot sealed the Blue Jackets’ fate inside Madison Square Garden.

            Columbus, facing the Eastern Conference’s best team, picked up one point as they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to New York on Sunday night.

            The Rangers took the lead at 17:49 of the first period when Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin connected on a nifty give-and-go pass to beat Steve Mason. The goal put New York ahead 1-0 before the first intermission.

            In the second frame, the Rangers had the majority of the early scoring chances, but Columbus notched the period’s first goal. On the Blue Jackets’ second power play of the night, Derick Brassard tied it at 1-1 with a heavy slap shot from the point.

            The game stayed knotted until 13:13 of the second period when a bit of misfortune overcame Columbus. After killing a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, the Blue Jackets fell behind 2-1 when an awkward bounce off the stanchion behind Columbus’ net resulted in New York’s second goal.

            With less than one second remaining in the period, the Rangers nearly extended their lead to two goals, but video review deemed Michael Del Zotto’s shot had not crossed the goal line before time expired.

            Trailing 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play, the Blue Jackets successfully straightened out a game laced with ups and downs. 

            Mason, responding from a tough outing against the Blackhawks, continued his strong play throughout the third period.  He made 32 saves in the contest.

However, Columbus’ defenseman David Savard owned the game’s most impressive save when he prevented a golden opportunity midway through the period making an impressive stick save while lying on the ice.

On the other end of the rink, Henrik Lundqvist, made his best save around the two-minute mark when he flashed the left pad to keep out Jeff Carter’s game-tying attempt.

Moments later, the Blue Jackets devised a play that the Vezina Trophy candidate couldn’t keep out. With the extra-attacker on, Columbus won an offensive zone faceoff, worked the puck over to Rick Nash, then allowed their captain to do the rest of the work.

Nash’s wrist shot beat Lundqvist for the game-tying goal with 1:33 remaining in regulation.

In overtime, Derek Stepan snapped in the game-winning goal just 22 seconds after the puck dropped to increase the Rangers’ lead in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Blue Jackets look to rebound on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks.