Recap: Miller Delivers Shootout Winner as Rangers Grab Third Straight Win, 2-1 Over Columbus

Another meeting on the road, this time a Metropolitan Division matchup as the New York Rangers paid a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets. In the first half of a back-to-back stretch this weekend, the Rangers looked to extend their win streak to three in attempts to continue their success on the road this season. While it would require overtime and a shootout, the Rangers picked up the extra point to keep their impressive road streak going with their third consecutive win.

There was one question mark in the Rangers’ lineup as it was reported Friday that Will Borgen was dealing with an upper-body injury. After missing practice that day, Borgen took morning skate in Columbus but would be ruled out just prior to game time. Matthew Robertson would slot in for Borgen who missed his first of his last 285 games in the NHL. Worth noting that Scott Morrow, was a healthy scratch in Hartford tonight, indicating he could be called up tomorrow.

First Period

Not the exact type of start the Rangers were looking for as it took them nearly five minutes to record their first shot on goal which came as a result of a dump in from Mika Zibanejad. That would remain their only shot on goal for the first half of the opening period. Still, the Rangers were playing a sound defensive game, keeping Columbus to the perimeter, limiting their chances as well.  

To say it was a low event period would be an understatement. The Blue Jackets picked up three shots on goal early and didn’t add another for over ten minutes. As the period went on, the Rangers slowly but surely started generating some offense but towards the end, things would get a little more interesting. 

With just under four minutes to go, Miles Wood had a partial breakaway and got tripped up by Taylor Raddysh. Wood went hard into the post and was quite slow to get up but once he was able to, he had a penalty shot to take. Despite being a quicker player, Wood slowly skated in, cutting towards the slot and ended up letting a wrist shot go that Igor Shesterkin was able to turn away with relative ease. 

That acted as a bit of a wake up call for the Rangers in the sense that they really picked up their offense in the final three minutes of the period. They would head into the first intermission out-shooting Columbus 10-4 with a 61% success rate in the face-off circle. The attempts and high danger numbers were quite deceiving as there wasn’t a ton of action prior to the penalty shot and late period push from the Rangers. 

Second Period

Off to a better start in the second, Matthew Robertson had a pair of shots early with one of which hitting the post. Will Cuylle had another great chance early as he opted for the shot on an odd-man rush that Jet Greaves was able to handle. That helped set the tone as it was all Rangers through the early parts of the middle stanza. Keeping the pressure on in Columbus’ end of the ice, the Rangers drew the first penalty of the game as Damon Severson tripped Alexis Lafrenière behind the net. 

It wasn’t a great start to the man advantage but the Rangers did an outstanding job once they were finally able to get the zone, resulting in Mika Zibanejad finding the first goal of the game. First off, Columbus had about three opportunities to ice the puck where Adam Fox intercepted all of them as if his stick and the puck had magnets inside of them. Third time was the charm as Fox keeping it in the zone resulted in Zibanejad with the puck down low where he picked up his own rebound to make it a 1-0 game. 

Worth noting that in just six minutes, the Rangers were out-shooting the Jackets 11-0 in the second period. Zibanejad also picked up his 600th career point as a New York Ranger, putting him eighth on the all-time list. 

A minute out from the exact midway point, a spirited scrum broke out in Columbus’ end of the ice as Braden Schneider knocked over a pair of Blue Jackets players as the whistle blew. This drew a reaction from Mathieu Olivier who had a gnarly hit on Robertson earlier in the shift and did nearly everything but drop the gloves while going after Schneider. Probably could have been a penalty on Olivier but alas, play continued at even strength. 

Two minutes later, the Rangers were awarded their first penalty of the game as Urho Vaakanainen delivered a cross-check on Sean Monahan. This again, drew a reaction from the Jackets as Miles Wood went right after the Rangers defenseman, drawing a crowd behind Shesterkin’s net. The man advantage would last for just twenty seconds as Dmitri Voronkov was called for interference as he hit Schneider away from the puck. 

The Rangers didn’t generate much on the 4-on-4 until Panarin came close to a breakaway but lacked the speed to break free from the backchecking Blue Jacket. The twenty seconds weren’t enough to do anything with the man advantage and shortly after returning to even strength, the Rangers were back to the penalty kill as they were caught with six skaters on the ice. 

Voronkov would make up for the penalty he took on Columbus’ first power play as he would capitalize on a rebound after Shesterkin stopped a Zach Werenski one timer to tie the game up 1-1. 

On the following shift, Mathieu Olivier finally got the fight he was looking for as Sam Carrick opted to drop the gloves with him. An intense scrap with Carrick holding his own despite taking the last blow. The two headed to the locker room with limited time left in the period but it certainly seemed to give the Rangers’ bench some life. 

That would do it for the action in the second period as the Rangers really picked it up offensively, now out-shooting Columbus 24-16. Still, Columbus wasn’t going down without a fight, both literally and metaphorically. Lafrenière ended up tangled up with Cole Sillinger as the final horn sounded which drew another large crowd, upping the tensions prior to the third. 

Third Period

The third was bearing similarities to the first period as it was a tad more low event with both teams keeping a strong pace. The Rangers best chance in the first half of the period came as Adam Edstrom led a 2-on-1 and opted for the shot that was stopped by Greaves. The Jackets went the other way with it, following that up with a few chances of their own as the score remained tied halfway through the third.

It was much of the same through the remainder of the period as both teams were playing strong, generating their fair share of opportunities. Both goaltenders were making the saves they needed to, giving the impression that this game was destined to be decided in overtime. Sure enough, that would do it for regulation as the score was tied at one after sixty minutes of play giving both teams a point in the standings. Final shots on goal tally in regulation clocked in at 31-24 in New York's favor.

Overtime/Shootout

One of the biggest critiques of 3-on-3 overtime is that it just turns into a battle of puck possession. That essentially became the case here in Ohio as both sides were extra cautious with their puck decisions, resulting in pretty limited action. One interesting note, Matthew Robertson was the third defenseman in the 3-on-3 line combinations, seemingly lapping Schneider in the depth charts in these types of situations. From a Rangers standpoint, that was the most interesting part of overtime as Kirill Marchenko missed a last second effort to win it for Columbus, sending this one to a shootout.

Kent Johnson led things off for Columbus as he pulled off a silky move but missed the net completely on a backhander. Panarin would follow him as he pulled off a quick shot that was met with the glove of Jet Greaves. All even after round one.

Adam Fantilli was next as he came in slowly but sped up with a forehand backhand move that Shesterkin flashed the glove on. Trocheck went second for New York as he moved in ever so slowly and snuck a shot past Greaves to give his team the advantage.

It was score or go home for Columbus and Marchenko was able to sneak a quick shot past Shesterkin to keep this thing alive. With the game on the Captain's stick, J.T. Miller walked in and fired a quick snap shot that beat Greaves on the blocker side to secure the win for the Rangers.

Another great win on the road as the Rangers picked up a huge extra point in the shootout to extend their win streak to three. They will look to keep it going tomorrow night back on home ice as they'll have a rematch with the Detroit Red Wings.