3 Rangers takeaways from vital 4-3 victory against Columbus Blue Jackets
Will Cuylle sent the New York Rangers into their midwinter vacation with smiles on their faces.
Cuylle assisted on Urho Vaakanainen’s tying goal 1:57 into the third period, then got the game-winner himself with 1:39 remaining to give the Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday night.
Yes, they got a fortunate bounce – the puck kicked right to him in the slot after a Columbus clearing pass went off the stick of linemate Vincent Trocheck. But Cuylle, who turned 23 on Wednesday, capitalized by snapping a shot past a surprised Elvis Merzlikins for the win.
The third-period comeback win was extra satisfying because it followed a dreadful effort Friday night, when the Rangers were outworked by the Sidney Crosby-less Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 loss at Madison Square Garden.
But the Rangers team that took the ice against Columbus had plenty of jump – and was able to find an extra gear in the third period, outshooting the Jackets 17-4 in the final 20 minutes to turn a one-goal deficit into their third victory in four games.
Even better for the Rangers was that they gained on the two teams holding wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference, as well the other four teams in the playoff scramble that are at NHL .500 or better.
All in all, a pretty good night.
With the exception of the players taking part in the inaugural 4 Nations Face-off, the Rangers and the other 31 teams will get a chance to rest while the in-season tournament takes place in Montreal and Boston. The rest figures to be especially helpful to the Blueshirts, who were without No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin on Saturday because of an upper-body injury he sustained against the Penguins. Shesterkin is expected to miss a week or two, but they’re hopeful he’ll be ready to go when they resume play against the Buffalo Sabres in two weeks.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from dismal 3-2 loss to Sidney Crosby-less Penguins
3 Rangers takeaways from 4-3 win against Blue Jackets
Here are three takeaways from the game Saturday:
1. Winning while everyone else loses
If the Rangers were to pick a night for a come-from-behind win, this was the one. Not only did they defeat one of the teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference playoff scramble, five other teams they’re battling for a postseason spot all lost. New York is now three points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who hold the second wild card despite losing 6-3 at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Columbus could have passed the Red Wings with a win against the Rangers; instead, the Blue Jackets remained one point behind Detroit. The Ottawa Senators, who own the first wild card, also lost – their 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers completed an 0-3-0 swing through the Sunshine State this week.
The Boston Bruins, who are even with Columbus, wasted a two-goal lead and lost 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights, who scored the winning goal with 1:10 remaining in regulation. The New York Islanders also wasted a two-goal lead and wound up losing 6-3 to the Minnesota Wild.
For good measure, the Montreal Canadiens and Penguins fell three points behind the Rangers. Montreal lost 4-0 at home to the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins followed their win in New York by losing 3-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Montreal also lost 5-3 to Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon in the final NHL game before the break.
“There’s games that go by that you wish you played better, and then there’s been a lot of games that we won to put ourselves back up in the mix anyway,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “Seemed to get a little bit of help earlier today, hopefully we get a little bit more. We head into the break and when we come back out of it, we’ve got to win games.”
2.Rangers show resilience again
One week ago, the Rangers had one win when trailing after two periods. Now they have four (4-21-1).
The Rangers overcame one-goal deficits after 40 minutes to defeat the Golden Knights on Sunday and the Bruins on Wednesday. They did it again on Saturday thanks to the two goals by Cuylle — one night after laying an egg against the Penguins.
It was obvious from the start that the Rangers were ready to play against the Blue Jackets, something that definitely was not the case 24 hours earlier.
“Huge, especially after last night,” Mika Zibanejad said. “Bounced back and again, not just getting two points, but making sure that we got it done before overtime and not getting them another point because we’re chasing them.”
3. A welcome winter break
With the exception of the six players taking part in the 4 Nations Face-off, the rest of the Rangers roster and staff have the next 13 days off. The Rangers don’t hit the ice again until Feb. 22, when they visit the Sabres to begin a three-game-in-four-nights trip.
Six Rangers will take part in the 4 Nations event – forward Mika Zibanejad (Sweden) and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen (Finland), as well as forwards Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller, and defenseman Adam Fox (United States).
For everyone else, it’s a welcome break in the schedule.
Shesterkin will welcome the chance to heal — rookie Dylan Garand dressed as Jonathan Quick’s backup Saturday — while hopefully not missing any action. His teammates will be glad to get some time to let the bumps and bruises heal.
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