Courtesy @NYRangers

Courtesy @NYRangers

The Rangers had their third attempt to clinch a playoff spot last night against the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets, and with Dave missing half the game, it’s only fair that a half short paragraphed, half Twitter recap take his usually gif-filled space.

This game started with approximately six thousand references to the fact that the two teams have swapped players. As if our livers haven’t been damaged enough with the recent play by the Rangers.

I haven’t watched much Blue Jackets hockey this year, but made a few notes almost immediately. For example, Brandon Saad has some slick moves, and it’s almost a shame he’s stuck on a bad team. Maybe he could be a Ranger. Maybe one day. Sonny Milano looks like Johnny Gaudreau’s younger brother from maybe another mother. Also, I knew I couldn’t have been the only Rangers fan who thought the Jackets’ goalie sounded familiar.

Chris Kreider scored his 20th of the season in typical Kreider fashion, driving hard to the net, then getting his own rebound and out-muscling the defender for the goal. 20 from 20 has a wonderful ring to it. I really wish he was more consistent, because flashes of what he can do are so beautiful. But we need him to be better against everyone, and not just Torts and Montreal. Call me critical, you’re not wrong. It’s cause we can all see what he is capable of, and it’s wonderful.

The Kreider goal was from Henrik Lundqvist, which gave us this fun fact:

First period was better for the Rangers, with 13 SOG, but not all were pretty ones. The second period was much stronger. The reunion of Miller with Brassard and Nash was high energy, generating lots of chances and seeing my personal favorite – people taking shots at the net.

However, our captain blocked a shot with his hand in the first period, which prevented him from coming out for the second period. Which provided this reaction from Rangers nation:

Then Dan Boyle scored and everything felt okay, but we all knew it wouldn’t be an easy game. It never is (except for that Montreal game, oh boy). After Sam affectionately reminded us that Jackets’ captain Nick Foligno hadn’t scored in 15 games, which promptly led to him scoring one.

https://twitter.com/TheSandmanEsq/status/717146794220765184

We all love Sam anyway.

A fun note on Foligno – he had 73 points last year, and 35 this year. Which I suppose is what happens when you have your “breakout” year at 28 years of age.

Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello reminded us what should happen in a 2-on-1 shortly after Foligno’s goal, which is a good sign; lately, the Rangers have freaked out after giving up a goal. A quick response is always great. Oh and, so is shooting..

I would be doing a disservice to this recap if I didn’t mention that Korpisalo looks like a drunk octopus. Throwing his stick / diving / literally flying sideways out of the net… and somehow he only let in three goals this game.

The third period went about as well as most Rangers third periods have gone this year — translation: not very well. Frazzled play and shotty defense led to yet another Foligno goal (maybe I should stop trolling him?) where he basically danced around Kevin Klein and then somehow bounced the puck off of him and past Hank.

The Rangers followed suit by shelling, shelling, shelling, which, unlike my mother, Shelly, is not amusing and is frustrating to be near. Alain Vigneault put his fourth line out there to take an offensive zone face-off with less than three minutes to go (WHY), and then Zuccarello high sticked Foligno with around two minutes left in the game.

Reminder: be kind to your livers. And hearts. Practice safe hockey-viewing.

Having pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage, the Jackets ultimately fell short and Derek Stepan scored a short-handed empty net goal to put the Rangers up 4-2, which would be the final. We’re in! Hooray!

Now the team continues to play for home-ice advantage, and whether or not we have our captain remains to be seen.

Either way, it may finally be time….

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