Rangers Vs Blue Jackets: Stepan's Overtime Winner Pushes Rangers Past Jackets

The New York Rangers came away with a much deserved victory, that unfortunately needed to be decided in overtime. Derek Stepan came away with the game winning goal off of a beautiful passing sequence between Michael Del Zotto and Marian Gaborik.

From the first puck drop, until the end of the first the Rangers controlled every aspect of the game, and gave the Blue Jackets no room. It was until the 17:49 mark that the Rangers were finally able to get on the board, courtesy of Brad Richards. Carl Hagelin made a nice little give-and-go with Richards, who put high over the glove of Steve Mason.

Just a couple minutes in the second period, the Jackets got their second chance with the man-advantage and made it count. Derek Brassard ripped a shot from the point, found its way through a screen, and passed Henrik Lundqvist. Just under ten minutes later, Artem Anisimov pounced on a loose puck that deflected off of the back boards. Steve Mason mis-played the puck, and Anisimov slipped it into the open net.

Follow after the jump for more.

There was quite the controversy at the end of the second period for the Rangers, as it appeared as if Michael Del Zotto had given the Rangers a 3-1 lead. Although, as it appeared on MSG, the puck has crossed the line with .01 seconds remaining. However, the war room in Toronto saw otherwise and deemed that their official clock had reached zero seconds before the puck crossed the line.

I still don't understand the reasoning behind the different score clocks in Toronto and New York. But anyways, the goal was eventually waived off and the Rangers headed into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. In the third period, the Jackets picked up the pressure a little bit and started to threaten the Rangers.

None other then Rick Nash would tie the game with just over a minute remaining in the game. The goal would force the game to overtime, where the Rangers would work their magic. It would only take 22 seconds for this game to be decided as Marian Gaborik, Michael Del Zotto and Derek Stepan would connect for the game winner.

Del Zotto made a great effort to force the puck out from behind the net, where it would land on Gaborik's stick. Gaborik would fire it cross-ice to a wide open Michael Del Zotto. Del Zotto showed great patience and slipped it over the Derek Stepan who tapped it into the wide open net for the win.

Overall, the tying goal was pretty weak, but the Rangers made up for it with a huge overtime victory. The Rangers will be back in action on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.