New York City On Sunday night, the New York Rangers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3. Alexis Lafreniere’s second goal of the game tied the score with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, and he later scored the only goal in the shootout.
Leading the Metropolitan Division, the Rangers have gone 9-0-1 in their past ten games with a goal and an assist from Chris Kreider. With two assists, Artemi Panarin tied Hall-of-Famer Rod Gilbert for the team record set in 1972–73 and extended his point streak to 14 games, which began the season. There were 26 saves by Jonathan Quick.
Columbus dropped its fifth game in a row (0-3-2), with goals from Justin Danforth, Adam Fantilli, and Sean Kuraly. With 37 saves, Elvis Merzlikins ended ahead of Erik Gudbranson with two assists.
LAF WITH 11 SECONDS LEFT IN REGULATION.
NO QUIT. pic.twitter.com/hRrVI1Yxmr
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 13, 2023
In the tiebreaker, Lafreniere backhanded the puck past Merzlikins in the third round, and Quick denied Alexandre Texier to secure the win.
Quick returned after he wasn’t available for New York’s 4-1 win over Minnesota on Thursday night due to an upper-body injury.
Despite participating in New York’s morning skate on Sunday, starter Igor Shesterkin didn’t dress as he continues to work through minor soreness. Louis Domingue, who got his first win with the Rangers in the last game, was Quick’s backup as Shesterkin missed his fourth straight game.
With Quick pulled for an extra attacker, Lafreniere was able to slide the puck past Merzlikins to send the Madison Square Garden crowd into hysterics as he tied it 3-3 in the closing seconds.
Fantilli and Kuraly had scored 19 seconds apart midway through the second period to give Columbus a 3-2 lead.
Lafreniere had given the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 11:17 of the second before the two quick strikes by Columbus.
Lafreniere finished off a precision passing play from Vincent Trocheck and Panarin by whipping the puck past Merzlikins.
The teams traded goals in the first as Danforth opened the scoring with 3:34 left, deflecting Gudbranson’s shot past Quick for his fourth of the season.
Kreider tied it with 1:14 remaining in the period with his 10th. Kreider leads the Rangers in goals this season and his 275 career goals place him five behind Adam Graves for third on the all-time franchise list.
Gustafsson has 10 points this season, including three goals.
Fantilli, the 19-year-old rookie forward drafted third overall by Columbus last June, tied the contest at 12:35 of the second before Kuraly put the visitors ahead at 12:54 with his fifth.
The Rangers appeared to tie it with 1:37 remaining in the second after a sharp-angle shot by Will Cullye wedged between Merzlikins and the post. But after a lengthy review by referees Kevin Pollock and Brandon Blandina, they ruled the play was frozen before Kaapo Kaako tapped the puck just into the net.
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