Jack Roslovic and Ivan Provorov scored late in the second period Sunday night and the Columbus Blue Jackets recorded a 4-2 victory to end the visiting New York Rangers’ 10-game winning streak.
Columbus denied the Rangers what would have been a team-record 11th straight win and handed New York its first loss since a 5-2 setback to the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 26. The Rangers had twice before won 10 straight, most recently in 1973.
Rookie Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko also scored as the Blue Jackets never trailed, won for the third time in five games and beat the Rangers for the second time in three meetings this season.
Former Blue Jacket Artemi Panarin scored his career-high 33rd goal and rookie Adam Edstrom tallied for the Rangers, who fell to 9-1-0 in the second game of back-to-backs and saw a six-game road points streak stopped.
Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins made 18 of his 38 saves in the third and was aided by a defense that blocked 26 shots. He preserved the victory by making four stops on New York’s 6-on-4 power play when Voronkov was penalized for a faceoff violation.
New York’s Jonathan Quick made 37 saves and remained one win shy of Dominik Hasek for 15th on the all-time list.
At the end of the first power play, Voronkov opened the scoring 4:34 into the game when he was alone at the right side of the net to redirect a centering pass from Marchenko by Quick.
Panarin tied it nearly 10 minutes later by going to the red line and lifting a shot through a tight angle over Merzlikins’ right shoulder.
After Quick lost his stick trying to clear the puck, Marchenko capitalized by tucking a shot inside the right post.
The Rangers tied it for the second time when Edstrom and Matt Rempe charged up the ice. Edstrom stopped behind the net and his centering pass for Rempe banked off Columbus defenseman Jake Bean’s right skate with 9:49 remaining.
The Blue Jackets regained the lead 46 seconds later when Roslovic finished off a rush by putting a shot from between the circles by a sprawling Quick after New York defenseman K’Andre Miller was late to cover.
With 85 seconds left in the middle period, the Rangers did not pick up Provorov as he motored down the ice from behind his own net. He finished off a 3-on-2 with Roslovic by lifting a shot past Quick’s stick.
–Field Level Media
