Some nights you ride a hot player to victory.
Tonight that player was Artemi Panarin.
The Columbus Blue Jackets fought off a late Rangers push to hold on to a 4-3 win, in spite of allowing two goals a man down and one goal a man up.
The Blue Jackets opened the game with high energy and production throughout all four lines in the first period, outshooting the New York Rangers on-goal 5-3 in the first six minutes, though they missed an additional seven. Things cooled off after the first media timeout though, only to heat back up again towards the end of the period. Firing six shots on net in the final 6:30, the Blue Jackets scored on a snipe by Alexander Wennberg.
Wennberg scores and the hottest line in hockey continues to perform.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/1A1bHNT6Nf
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 20, 2018
Thomas Vanek had a chance two on one to expand the Blue Jackets lead 3:08 into the second, but he couldn’t fire it past Henrik Lundqvist and Zach Werenski failed to corral the rebound.
The Blue Jackets were able to finally increase their lead 9:08 into the second though on a Panarin rip.
Cole to Panarin to the back of the net. This play looked effortless.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/TqvbUXZYBL
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) March 21, 2018
All was well, and good as the Blue Jackets went on two power plays within five minutes of each other shortly thereafter, but on the second of those advantages, a costly Wennberg offensive zone turnover led to a shorthanded Rangers goal by Kevin Hayes. The score was 2-1 Blue Jackets after two, with a 24-18 shots advantage.
Next opened a cavalcade of third-period action.
It opened four minutes in with a Markus Nutivaara goal, and just over three minutes later Mika Zibanejad responded with a power-play goal for the Rangers. The score was 3-2 with under 13 minutes to play.
Panarin fired home his second goal of the night just over four minutes later, but again the Rangers responded with a power-play goal with less than two minutes to go.
The Rangers made one last try to even the score by pulling Lundqvist, but Panarin made it a hat trick by scoring on the empty net to secure a 5-3 Blue Jackets victory. The winger finished with an assist in addition to those three goals.
Injury Update
Brandon Dubinsky was a healthy scratch for the game tonight. Josh Anderson remains sidelined with a knee injury. Seth Jones missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury, and his status remains unclear. Dean Kukan remains out with an upper-body injury.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets return home for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with the Florida Panthers on Fox Sports Ohio.
