@RNYRF Staff Report
A bittersweet victory for the Rangers last night in Columbus as the health of Captain Ryan McDonagh comes into question. McDonagh, blocking a shot by Blue Jackets Brandon Dubinsky it looked as though he was either struck in the arm or hand. McDonagh finished one shift in the first period but did not return to the game after intermission. There was no word on McDonagh's condition after the game but coach Alain Vigneault said he will be re-evaluated today. It does not look good for the Rangers or McDonagh as Vigneault mentioned that it's a good possibility that a recall may be coming from AHL Hartford sometime today.
The Rangers came out hard last night and struck first when Chris Kreider scored his 20th of the season 6:17 into the opener. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist picked up his 4th assist of the season moving him past Chris Osgood for 22nd on the all time goaltender point list with his 21st career point. Lundqvist is now 2nd behind Keri Lehtonen among active goalies. The Rangers continued to roll into the second period and took a 2-0 lead when Dan Boyle scored an unassisted goal just over 5 minutes into the second period. Columbus fought back and cut the lead to one when Nick Foligno deflected a shot past Lundqvist with just under 7 minutes remaining in the period. Undeterred by the Jackets goal the Rangers regained the 2 goal lead when Mats Zuccarello scored his 26th of the season to take a 3-1 lead into intermission. Columbus fought the Rangers hard all 3rd period but were unable to come close until Foligno scored his second of the game just before the midway point of the final period closing the gap to 3-2. Both teams battled through the rest of the period, with just over 2 minutes remaining Rangers' winger Mats Zuccarello was called for hi sticking giving Columbus the man advantage. Columbus pulled goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for the extra skater giving them a 6 on 4 power play. Less than a minute into the penalty kill the Rangers struck when Derek Stepan scored into the empty net to finish off the Blue Jackets and get their spot in the playoffs. The New York Rangers have now advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 6th season in a row and for the 10th in their last 11.
FINAL STATS
Rangers 4 Blue Jackets 2 FINAL
SOG: NYR 30 CBJ 29
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
06:17 NYR Chris Kreider (20) Backhand shot - ASST: Derek Stepan (29), Henrik Lundqvist (4) 1 - 0 NYR
2nd Period
05:28 NYR Dan Boyle (9) Snap shot - ASST: NONE 2 - 0 NYR
14:41 CBJ Nick Foligno (10) Tip-in - ASST: David Savard (21), Oliver Bjorkstrand (2) 2 - 1 NYR
18:14 NYR Mats Zuccarello (26) Snap shot - ASST: Chris Kreider (21) 3 - 1 NYR
3rd Period
10:45 CBJ Nick Foligno (11) Snap shot - ASST: Seth Jones (27), Jared Boll (2) 3 - 2 NYR
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
08:32 CBJ Jared Boll Roughing - 2 min against Tanner Glass
13:00 NYR Derek Stepan Hooking - 2 min against Brandon Dubinsky
2nd Period
12:24 NYR Marc Staal Roughing - 2 min against Nick Foligno
3rd Period
03:16 NYR Rick Nash Slashing - 2 min against Cam Atkinson
17:57 NYR Mats Zuccarello Hi-sticking - 2 min against Nick Foligno
FINAL TEAM STATS
POWER PALYS NYR 0/1 CBJ 0/4
HITS: NYR 10 CBJ 17
FACEOFF WINS: NYR 29 CBJ 31
GIVEAWAYS: NYR 3 CBJ 2
TAKEAWAYS: NYR 0 CBJ 5
BLOCKED SHOTS: NYR CBJ
PIM: NYR 8 CBJ 2
RANGERS FACEOFF %:
BRASSARD 40%, STEPAN 50%, MOORE 62%, HAYES 40%, GLASS 0%, E STAAL 57%
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. NYR CHRIS KREIDER
2. CBJ Nick Foligno
3. NYR MATS ZUCCARELLO
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