The Rangers inched closer to clinching the Eastern Conference and President's Trophy with a stirring 4-3 overtime win against the Blue Jackets on Monday. Derek Stepan was the hero, tallying with 27.5 seconds left in regulation to tie it and then with 49.6 left in overtime to win it. The All-American line of Stepan, Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller was by far the best trio for the Rangers last night, keying the comeback and win.
The Rangers started strong in each of the first two periods but Columbus rallied in each to carry play the remainder of each frame. Martin St. Louis tallied to give NY a 1-0 lead, picking up the puck in the slot from Kevin Hayes, who had fanned on his shot, and blasting it past Sergei Bobrovsky. The Blue Jackets tied it, taking advantage of a Ryan McDonagh turnover that came after Bobrovsky kept it 1-0 with an excellent save on Tanner Glass in close. Matt Calvert pressured McDonagh, allowing Jeremy Morin to steal the puck and he put the puck off the post to Calvert, who scored into an open net.
In the second, Dan Girardi scored just 24 seconds into the frame following some fine passing in the Columbus zone. Miller with some good work behind the goal, got it to Kreider, who created some room and fed Stepan. He made a beautiful pass to a pinching deep Girardi, who beat Bobrovsky short side. but Columbus kept coming. They tied it at 2 after winning some battles, as Wennberg outmuscled Hagelin, then Anisimov held out MSL and went high with the shot. Lundqvist made the save, but Marko Dano, who kills NY and has 12 points his last 12 games, was open deep in the slot for the easy goal.
Columbus took the lead 8:14 into the third. A blocked shot in their own zone enabled Nick Foligno to come with speed down the right side. He crossed with Brandon Dubinsky and on the play, both Rangers went to Foligno, leaving Dubi wide open low for the goal. it looked like Dubi would join Del Zotto, Richards and Pouliot as ex-Rangers who have had third-period goals this year against their former team. But as we know, that was not to be.
The Rangers turned up their intensity the last 7-8 minutes of the game. It looked like G had tied it with 55 seconds left but he was stoned in the slot and left muttering. Great work by McD and Yandle at the points and McD shot hit Kreider in the chest. He had the wherewithal to feed Stepan to the left of the net and he tied it.
The first 2:42 in overtime was crazy. Chance after chance on both sides. We need to teach the Rangers to always watch the trailer, since he seems to constantly be open. On the game-winner, great takeaway by Stepan on a clearing chance. He fed Yandle, who put the puck on net. Kreider blocked out Justin Falk in the slot, allowing Stepan to get the puck. Stepan went backhand to forehand and scored the game-winner to the wide side.
Not a great game overall but enough to get the win. They do need to be sharper and clean up some of the breakdowns, especially on criss-crosses in their own zone, but all year they have shown resiliency. That ability and never-say-die mentality should serve them well come the post-season.
To put this run in context, they are 40-11-3 since losing in Detroit on Dec. 6. The 109 points leaves them one point shy of clinching first overall in the East and two shy of the President's Trophy. One win the next three games, either tonight in NJ, Thursday night at home against Ottawa or Saturday afternoon in their regular-season finale in Washington, will do it. In addition, one win will tied the team record of 52 regular season wins in '94 and three points ties the franchise mark of 112 regular season points set the same year.
Getting the top seed locked up as soon as possible would allow AV to play with some combinations and maybe rest some players. Per Pat Leonard this AM: "Kevin Klein (broken left arm) is scheduled to be re-examined by doctors on Wednesday and could return to game action as soon as Thursday night at home against Ottawa. Klein started doing light stickhandling Monday morning at the Garden, alone on the ice before the team’s morning skate in which he did not take part." Klein could use the time on ice to scrape off the rust, so look for him to play Thursday and/or Saturday. That might mean a day off for McD or G or at least, a cut in ice time. Once Klein returns, the lefty-balance, as i wrote yesterday, will be restored. Matt Hunwick has filled in well and gives the team a solid backup d-man if needed
Up front, clinching would probably mean James Sheppard will be in and one of the top-six out. Of course, knowing AV, he will stick with the same lineups and just reduce the ice time if Klein and Sheppard are in. I know some have said Jesper Fast hasn't been visible, to me, that's not necessarily a bad thing. He has been doing what he should be doing on the fourth line, which has been much better lately, surprisingly enough led by Glass, who has been very noticeable - in a positive way.
Three games left. One point for the East. Two for President's Trophy. Beat NJ and clinch tonight with Cam Talbot, who has been a big reason for the team's success this year, between the pipes.