Columbus Blue Jacket Win Eliminate Montreal Canadiens from Playoff Race

The Columbus Blue Jackets celebrate after winning the shootout last night in New York against the Rangers and earning the last Eastern Conference wild card spot

It was bad news for the Montreal Canadiens after learning that the Columbus Blue Jackets came away with an overtime victory over the New York Rangers. The win meant the end of Montreal’s getting the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

After going scoreless for the first period, it was New York’s Pavel Buchnevich who put the New York Rangers up 1-0, and with it, hope for Montreal after Columbus seemed unable to make any headway. However, the Blue Jackets needed just over two minutes in the third to tie the game Artemi Panarin, Josh Anderson, and Ryan Dzingel went on a three on two rush that resulted in Dzingel tying it 1-1.

With five minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the third, Panarin put the Columbus Blue Jackets ahead 2-1 with some excellent puck handling after connecting with a David Savard pass. Panarin scooted the puck around the Rangers defence and beat Alexander Georgiev as he shot across the ice and tapped in the puck.

The Rangers managed to tie it 2-2 after pulling Georgiev and going 6 on 5. That saw Columbus coach John Tortorella challenging the goal, which, after video reply, determined not to have goalie interference and the two going into overtime.

Sportsnet

With overtime going scoreless, the two went to the shootout, and it was Columbus’s Artemi Panarin scoring, and New York’s Tony DeAngelo failed in his attempt to put Columbus up 3-1 and with it, their third back-to-back trip to the post-season. Commenting on the shootout win, John Tortorella, coach of the Blue Jackets said,

” Just stayed with it, found a way. Bread (Panarin) scores a couple of big goals. … I think it’s a good lesson for us as we push forward. Just stay with it, not get too antsy.”

Columbus has won eight of their last twelve games and now own the Eastern Conference second wild card spot. They came within one point of the Carolina Hurricanes in winning the first wild card, and next will play the Ottawa Senators on the final day of the regular season. Sports punters interested in betting the post-season will find many lucrative promotions with our recommended NHL sportsbooks. Register today and claim your sports betting bonus before the post-season begins.

Alexander Georgiev stopped 30 shots last night as the Rangers went on to lose their third in a row and the sixteenth in its last twenty. New York will play their last regular season game on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Commenting on the game last night, Alexander Georgiev said,

“Everybody battled so hard. It was this close of a game. … Wish we would have won.”

Sergei Bobrovsky has 25 saves and was stellar during the shootout while denying Tony DeAngelo while the New York was going for their last attempt to score. Commenting on Bobrovsky, Tortorella said,

“He has found his game for quite a while, and it kind of goes unnoticed. Goaltending is a very important part of winning in this league. Bob was a huge part of it tonight.”

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