Quick Hits – Rangers vs Blue Jackets 11/6/17

Zak Chiger Updated: Nov 7, 2017

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Here is our Quick Hits recap of the Rangers 5-3 victory over the Blue Jackets.

Michael Grabner – Coming off of a 27 goal season in 2016-17, there were elevated expectations for the Rangers winger. And after a slower start than he would’ve liked, Grabner seems to be getting back into the groove he found last year. The Austrian winger scored the bookend goals in this one, getting the Rangers on the board in the second, and sealing the win with the empty-netter in the third.

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For his first goal, Grabner took a great feed from JT Miller and found a way to get the puck through Sergei Bobrovsky. For his encore, Grabner chipped the puck to himself and used his speed to beat the Columbus player down the ice, before depositing the puck into the yawning cage.

Rick Nash – It was a special night for the Rangers’ alternate captain, who was honored before the game for playing his 1000th NHL game. Classy as always, the Rangers brought the Nash family onto the ice and presented him with a Tiffany crystal, a silver stick and a golf getaway from his teammates. In addition, former Rangers goaltender/broadcaster and current Blue Jackets executive John “JD” Davidson presented Nash with a collage of the forward’s time in Columbus.

Team Defense – The Rangers did win this game, but it didn’t come as easily as anyone would’ve liked. The Blueshirts had defensive breakdowns on each of Columbus’ three goals. On the Panarin goal to get the scoring started, the Rangers were caught puck-watching and sagged down below the circles, leaving Panarin wide open. On the second goal, the Rangers had three players, including Shattenkirk, between the center line and the offensive blue line trying to take the puck from Ryan Murray. They were unsuccessful and Murray’s cross-ice pass led to a 3v1 finished by Anderson. As for the third and final Columbus tally, Shattenkirk was held off by Boone Jenner. Shattenkirk then knocked into Lundqvist, removing the stick from Henrik’s hands. Their teammates couldn’t get back fast enough, and Dubinsky centered for an open Bjorkstrand for an easy goal from the top of the crease. The Rangers still have some work to do in their own end of the ice if they are serious about turning around their season.

Powerful Power Play – When the Rangers brought in Kevin Shattenkirk, the thought was that he would be the guy to help turn around the Rangers anemic man-advantage unit. And so far this season, he has done just that. The New Rochelle native tied the game at two early in the final frame. Zibanejad’s wide shot was collected by Zuccarello who found the defenseman at the point. Shattenkirk fired a wrist shot that seemed to deflect off of the aforementioned Jenner, and by Bobrovsky.

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The Rangers second power-play goal was scored faster than Usain Bolt running the 100m dash. Mika Zibanejad won the faceoff right back to Pavel Buchnevich. The Russian let go a rocket that was blocked down in front right to Chris Kreider, who slid the puck into the half-empty net.

The game-winning PPG was scored by Buchnevich off of some beautiful passing. My words won’t do it justice, so here’s the goal. And how about the celly from Buch and Zbad?

The Rangers PP is feeling it right now, and that can only mean good things for Alain Vigneault’s squad.

Henrik Lundqvist – Though it may not have seemed like it at the time, Henrik Lundqvist was a big part of the Rangers win, making some key saves early on. Columbus’ first shot of the game came around three minutes into the first, and it was a tough one that Henrik snared out of the air. This save got him going and he was steady all game, despite giving up three goals against the upstart Blue Jackets. Henrik seems to be rounding back into form, which is certainly a welcome sight for Rangers fans, players, and coaches.

NEXT GAME: The Blueshirts look to make it five-in-a-row when they face the Bruins on Wednesday Night Rivalry. Puck drops at 8! And some news to make Rangers fans even happier!

LETS GO RANGERS!!