Will Cuylle scored two goals in the third period to seal a Ranger win against the Blue Jackets.
Kent Johnson(17), Justin Danforth(5), and James van Riemsdyk(11) scored the goals for the CBJ, and Elvis Merzļikins stopped 36 shots in a 4-3 New York win.
The Blue Jackets came into this game one point out of the wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and absolutely needed at least a point to get themselves back into the WC2 position, but that didn't happen on Saturday night. Instead, they head into the two-week break still one point out, and losers of four straight games.
Each team made mistakes in this game, as both had 18 giveaways. There was also lots of sloppy play from each squad. New York played last night at home and had to travel, so they can be excused. The Jackets also played four games this week, two on the road and two at home. The Four Nations break couldn't come soon enough for the exhausted and injured Jackets.
With the score tied at three with under two minutes left, the CBJ had the puck in their O-zone. Young Adam Fantilli took a pass from Severson in the right circle and immediately tried to turn and sling it toward the net, not realizing Adam Fox was parked on his hip. The shot attempt was blocked and cleared back into the Jackets D-zone where Denton Mateychuk gathered it and circled toward Elvis. Mateychuk tried to get the puck to Kent Johnson, but Vincent Trocheck quickly stuck his stick out and deflected the pass. Instead of making its way toward Johnson, the puck hit the wall and came straight back into the circle where Will Cuylle snatched it up and shot it all in one motion to beat an unsuspecting Merzļikins for what would be the game-winner. Not the ending the Jackets needed going into the break.
On the bright side, Zach Werenski continued his historic home points streak.
Zach Werenski said after the game, "We're going to be fine. We lost to Detroit earlier in the year in similar fashion, end of the game, and we were fine after that as well. We'll learn from it and we'll move forward."
Dean Evason Quotes:
- "Listen, guys, we played our asses off. My gosh. We got a tough break, they had a good stick at the end. We hit a couple crossbars. We just chatted that we’ve given ourselves an opportunity to win every single night, and when we get back off this break we’re going to do that again."
- Mateychuk tried to do the right thing - kept it on his forehand, moved it north. They get a tip of a stick on it, it hits the boards, comes exactly onto the tape, the guy makes a fantastic shot. It happens, right?"
- "We just talked about it. We just went up and down the lineup - could you fault anybody in tonight’s hockey game? Was anybody bad on our team? No. So that’s all we're going to ask as a coaching staff."
- "We get some fresh bodies back, some guys that have played in the National Hockey League for a long time."
Final Stats
CBJ vs NYRPlayer Stats
- Kent Johnson scored his 17th goal.
- Justin Danforth scored his 5th goal.
- James van Riemsdyk scored his 11th goal.
- Zach Werenski recorded his 42nd assist of the season. That point now puts his home points streak at 21 games and ties him with Bobby Orr for the fourth-longest such streak in NHL history.
- Adam Fantilli tallied his 17th assist.
- Jack Johnson got his 5th assist of the year.
- Zach Aston-Reese recorded his 8th assist.
- Damon Severson got his 16th assist.
- Cole Sillinger now has 18 assists.
- Jake Christiansen played in his 100th NHL game.
- Elvis Merzļikins stopped 36 of 40 New York shots.
Team Stats
- The Jackets weren't allowed to have a power play in this game.
- The Blue Jackets were technically never on the PK in this game, as NYR would score with the goalie pulled during a delayed penalty.
- Columbus could only win 40% of the faceoffs.
What's Next: Zach Werenski will now take the ice for the United States in the Four Nations Face-Off, which kicks off this coming Thursday, as the U.S. takes on Finland. The rest of the Jackets will get some much-needed R&R before coming back home to play the Chicago Blackhawks on February 22nd.
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