rangers blue jackets 2015

On a night where Cam Talbot took home the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, Derek Stepan stole the show. Stepan scored the game tying goal with less than one minute remaining to force overtime, then scored the game winner in overtime to move the Rangers within one point two points of clinching the President’s Trophy. The game itself wasn’t the best the Rangers have played, blowing two leads, but this team finds a way to fight back and get those wins.

The Rangers usually base their offense on the rush, but this time around it was good old-fashioned grinding work that got the majority of their goals. Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves in the win, while the Rangers peppered Sergei Bobrovsky with 42 shots. The penalty kill came up big for the Rangers as well, killing the Matt Hunwick penalty right after giving Columbus the lead in the third period.

On to the goals:

Rangers 1, Blue Jackets 0

martin st. louis

Martin St. Louis goal

This was a bit of a lucky goal. Kevin Hayes whiffed on his shot, and the puck went right to Martin St. Louis, who didn’t hesitate and put it past Sergei Bobrovsky for the early lead.

Blue Jackets 1, Rangers 1

catt calvert

Matt Calvert goal

Dan Girardi almost turned the puck over to Jeremy Morin first, then Ryan McDonagh actually turned the puck over to Morin. Morin got Henrik Lundqvist out of position, and then fed Matt Calvert in front who put it in the empty net.

Rangers 2, Blue Jackets 1

dan girardi

Dan Girardi goal

This was a very pretty goal. Girardi did a great job finding the open ice on the weak side after J.T. Miller worked hard to get the puck to Chris Kreider along the boards. Kreider found Derek Stepan at the top of the circle, who turned and found Girardi sneaking to the net. Perfect pass, quick shot, goal.

Blue Jackets 2, Rangers 2

marko dano

Marko Dano goal

Marc Staal tried to block Artem Anisimov’s shot after he got free from St. Louis and Carl Hagelin. In doing so, he left Marko Dano wide open to bang home the rebound after Lundqvist made the initial great save.

Blue Jackets 3, Rangers 2

brandon dubinsky

Brandon Dubinsky goal

Brandon Dubinsky just sneaks in behind three Rangers, who were all drawn to Nick Foligno. Foligno threaded the needle to Dubinsky, who snapped it past Lundqvist. Miller was a little slow on the backcheck, but he wasn’t catching Dubinsky anyway.

Rangers 3, Blue Jackets 3

derek stepan

Derek Stepan goal

What a passing play. Just watch in all its glory.

Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 3

derek stepan

Derek Stepan winner

Derek Stepan does a great job to take the puck away from Dalton Prout along the boards and get the puck to Keith Yandle at the point. Stepan circled to the net as Yandle put his shot on goal, forcing Bobrovsky to make a save and leave a rebound. Chris Kreider drew Justin Falk’s attention, allowing Stepan to get the rebound, set, and beat Bob for the winner.

USAT/Fenwick Chart:

rangers blue jackets 2015

Courtesy of war-on-ice

The Blue Jackets had the overall shot attempt advantage, but it wasn’t a very large advantage. That said, there sure were a lot of shot attempts in this game. Close to 100 total. The Blue Jackets didn’t really do a good job of hitting the net though. They got a lot of rubber towards the net, but a good number went wide.

Scoring Chances:

rangers blue jackets 2015

Courtesy of war-on-ice

While the overall shot attempt battle wasn’t won by much, the Blue Jackets took it to the Rangers in terms of quality attempts. Again though, they had trouble hitting the net, as we will see below, and in remembering that Artem Anisimov had the game winner on his stick point blank, and shot the puck at a 90-degree angle.

Individual SAT/Corsi:

rangers blue jackets 2015

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Tanner Glass had a pretty decent game. Add that to the sweet pass the other day, and he’s strung together a few in a row. I know my expectations of him are low, but you always want to see the boys in blue playing well. Side note: Oof Staal, rough game.

Shot Locations:

rangers blue jackets 2015

Courtesy of war-on-ice

There are a lot of M’s and B’s on the Blue Jackets side here. The Rangers didn’t really do a good job defensively, and Hank had to make a few spectacular saves, but they won. Meanwhile, you’d like to see the Rangers get more chances in those boxed areas. That’s a lot of S’s off to the right.

Shift Chart:

rangers blue jackets 2015

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Normal Alain Vigneault shift chart, so no real surprises here. Worth noting that the fourth line didn’t see any ice time in OT, but two of the three (Dominic Moore, Jesper Fast) were on the ice to preserve the tie in the closing seconds of regulation. That’s a big sign of trust from AV in Fast.

This was one helluva game to watch. It was a night that honored Steven McDonald with a gutty effort to come from behind and steal the game. Plus, it may have been Rangers fans last chance to say thank you to Cam Talbot.

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