NEW YORK — One minute remained in regulation when the New York Rangers called their timeout Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
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As the Rangers and Blue Jackets huddled at their benches, a clip from the football film "Any Given Sunday" played on the video boards hanging above the ice. The unmistakable voice of Al Pacino, playing fictitious coach Tony D'Amato, echoed around the arena.
"The inches we need are all around us," he said. "They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch!"
As it turned out in the Rangers' improbable 4-3 comeback win via shootout, life imitated art almost to the letter. The Blue Jackets were 11 seconds plus a few misplaced inches away from polishing off an uplifting victory against the top team in the Eastern Conference, but the Rangers wriggled off the hook.
The 3-2 lead that goalie Elvis Merzlikins spent most of the third protecting for the Blue Jackets disappeared in the bat of an eye thanks to Alexis Lafreniere 's shot from outside the right post, which snuck got under the goalie's outstretched glove by maybe an inch.
That was after former Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin sent a shot/pass that eluded Cole Sillinger 's attempted block, glanced off Sean Kuraly 's stick in the slot, hit Rangers star Chris Kreider in the skate and put the puck on the ice for a short pass to Lafreniere.
The Rangers found the inches they needed, finally ending it with Lafreniere's goal in the shootout's third round. The Blue Jackets didn't, coming up just inches short of a victory that would've stopped a winless skid that grew to five straight with the loss (0-3-2).
Lying face down after allowing the tying goal, Merzlikins personified the Jackets through first 15 games. Flat as a pancake in his own crease, he couldn't believe what happened, especially after he'd played brilliantly most of the game.
Instead of being rewarded with a win, another one-goal lead disappeared late in regulation. Another impressive effort slipped through the Jackets' fingers. Had just a few inches at the end been kinder, perhaps their vacant stares would've been smiles on the flight home. It's a feeling the Jackets are getting too familiar with amid a 4-7-4 start.
"To let one in with 11 seconds is … it doesn't feel good," center Sean Kuraly said. "You're 11 seconds away and all you're thinking is, 'Is there one more battle I could've won to get the puck out?' And you've got to live with it."
New York pushed the entire third period until finally getting Lafreniere's second goal of the evening to tie it with a 6-on-5 advantage. Chris Kreider got his stick on the rebound of Artemi Panarin's shot with 13 seconds left to play, sending the puck to Lafreniere at the right post for a shot he put into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Fantilli 's tremendous individual effort just past the midway point in the second period pulled the Blue Jackets even on the fourth goal of his NHL career.
After spotting a puck that hit linemate Dmitri Voronkov 's skate just outside the Rangers' blue line, the rookie center tapped it out of mid-air and collected it for a solo rush into the right circle between three defenders. Fanti lli quickly gathered for a wrist shot that beat Quick past the blocker into the far corner to tie it 2-2 with 7:25 left in the middle period.
First star
Alexis Lafreniere, Rangers, right wing
Second star
Chris Kreider, Rangers, left wing
Third star
Adam Fantilli, Blue Jackets, center
— Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent shook up his forward lines, moving Johnny Gaudreau from the top group to left wing on the third line with center Cole Sillinger and Jack Roslovic at right wing . Yegor Chinakhov drew back into the lineup after watching as a healthy scratch in Detroit. He skated in Gaudreau's usual spot at left wing on a line with center Boone Jenner and Laine on the right. Defensively, Jake Bean returned from a one-game healthy scratch to play the left point on the third pairing with Adam Boqvist .
— Late in the second, the Rangers appeared to tie it, 3-3, on a harmless looking shot by Will Cuylle from the right circle. A long video review commenced and it was eventually ruled that his original shot never got the puck over the goal line. A replay angle shown on the video boards above the ice showed the puck clearly resting in the Blue Jackets' net about two or three inches inside the goal line, but that may have occurred after a Rangers player jabbed at Merzlikins' right skate with the play blown dead. The score stayed 3-2 until Lafreniere tied it late in the third.
— Panarin shot a puck into Jack Roslovic 's leg or foot in the first period, but the Blue Jackets forward was able to finish the game. He was spotted hobbling while leaving the arena, but wasn't using crutches or a walking boot.
— After playing three straight games, defenseman Andrew Peeke was a healthy scratch again. Peeke played the season-opener, then sat 10 straight games as a healthy scratch until his recent three-game trial run. He struggled in the loss Saturday to the Red Wings, including a costly turnover behind the Blue Jackets' net late in the second period that led to a momentum-shifting tying goal by Detroit's Alex DeBrincat .
― Defenseman David Jiricek played for the Cleveland Monsters during a 2-1 overtime loss Sunday in Belleville, Ontario. Jiricek was assigned to the AHL on Saturday to make room for Laine's return from injured reserve, but he's not expected to remain in Cleveland for a long duration. Jiricek finished with one shot and two penalty minutes while skating with fellow Czechian defenseman Stanislav Svozil as a defense pairing.
― The Blue Jackets extended their streak of not allowing a power play goal to six games and now rank third in the NHL in penalty killing at 88.4% (38 of 43). Outside of two games allowing two power play goals on five times shorthanded, the Jackets are 33 of 34 in their other 12 games.
— Former Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday in Toronto in the "Builders" category. Hitchcock's tenure with the Jackets ran from Nov. 22, 2006 to Feb. 3, 2010, when he won 125 games that now ranks second all-time in Blue Jackets history. Only John Tortorella (227) won more games in Columbus. Hitchcock, who ranks fourth all-time in NHL coaching wins (849), was the first coach in Blue Jackets history to guide them to the playoffs (2008-09).
Forwards
Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Yegor Chinakhov – Boone Jenner – Patrik Laine
Johnny Gaudreau – Cole Sillinger – Jack Roslovic
Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
Defensemen
Zach Werenski – Erik Gudbranson
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Adam Boqvist
Goalies
Scratched:F Emil Bemstrom , F Mathieu Olivier , D Andrew Peeke
Injured/non-roster:G Daniil Tarasov (knee)
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets lose late lead, fall to Rangers in shootout
