Columbus Killer Artemi Panarin Buries Blue Jackets

The game's first nine minutes consisted of several scoring chances for each team. The Jackets had a pair of breakaways but couldn't beat Shesterkin. The Rangers pushed hard the first five minutes but Elvis Merzlikins stood tall and stopped all of their chances, including two very big stops to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard. Ivan Provorov was sent to the box for interference giving New York their first power play, but the Jackets would kill it. The period would end scoreless thanks to the marvelous play of Elvis Merzlikins, who made 17 saves. 

Noted Columbus assassin Artemi Panarin scored 7:17 into the second when he scored off of a faceoff with a sneaky shot that seemed to confuse Merzlikins. With 6:22 left, Vincent Trocheck threw a late open ice hit on Johnny Gaudreau that was reviewed for a major penalty. After review, it was deemed to not be a major, and the Jackets Mathieu Olivier was sent to the box for cross-checking. Adam Fox would score would immediately score to make it 2-0. That's how the period would end. 

Barclay Goodrow would be called for tripping just under two minutes into the third, giving the Jackets their first power play. The penalty was quickly nullified when Kent Johnson was called for hooking. Cole Sillinger scored on Shesterkin when Damon Severson stole a clearing attempt by Shesterkin. Severson shot it on net after the steal and Sillinger gathered a rebound to pull within one. Igor Shesterkin was called for tripping Kirill Marchenko with 14:29 left in the game, but the Rangers would kill it easily. Dmitri Voronkov and Will Cuylle got into a fight after Will Cuylle got away with a boarding call on Ivan Provorov. Chris Kreider scored on an empty net to seal the Rangers win. Artemi Panarin would run up the score with a second empty netter to make it 4-1. 

Very good game between the two teams. Elvis played like a superstar. 

Final Stats

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What's Next - Carolina comes to Nationwide Arena tonight at 7 p.m.

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