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New York Rangers' Cuylle sends Columbus Blue Jackets into NHL break with stinging loss
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- New York Rangers' Cuylle sends Columbus Blue Jackets into NHL break with stinging loss
Will Cuylle 's goal for the New York Rangers with 1:39 left to play spoiled the Blue Jackets ' final game before the NHL's winter break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
Pouncing on a turnover inside the Blue Jackets' zone late in the third period, Cuylle ripped a shot past Elvis Merzlikins , lifting the Rangers to a 4-3 victory in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,755 on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena. Cuylle also assisted on a goal 1:57 into the third that tied it 3-3 and was initially credited as his goal before NHL officials gave it to Urho Vaakanainen following the game.
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The victory moves the Rangers (27-24-4) to 58 points, which is within two points of the Blue Jackets (26-22-8) going into a nearly two-week pause in NHL action.
Zach Werenski assisted on Kent Johnson 's goal in the first period to extend his franchise record home points streak to 21 straight games, tying Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr for fourth-longest by a defenseman in NHL history. It's also the fourth-longest streak of its kind among active players regardless of position, tying Connor McDavid 's 21-game streak in 2022-23 for the Edmonton Oilers .
Justin Danforth and James van Riemsdyk scored the other two goals for the Blue Jackets, who started Merzlikins for the fourth straight game. Arthur Kaliyev , Mika Zibanajad and Will Cuylle scored the first three goals for the Rangers, who started backup goalie Jonathan Quick due to an upper-body injury that made starter Igor Shesterkin unavailable.
Kaliyev opened the scoring just 1:56 into the game to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, but Johnson's 17thgoal of the season tied it 1-1 with 5:29 left in the opening period. Werenski got the primary assist.
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski passes the puck against the Rangers on Saturday.
Danforth followed it 58 seconds later to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead on his fifth goal of the season and second in as many games. It stayed that way starting the second, but Zibanejad scored the next one for the Rangers to knot the game, 2-2, at 6:38 with a snapshot off a cross-ice feed from Adam Fox .
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New York used the momentum from that goal to tilt the ice their way, making Merzlikins work to keep the game tied while the Rangers set up shop inside the Blue Jackets' zone. The inability to cap those dominant shifts with a goal, however, was costly.
Blue Jackets left wing James van Riemsdyk scores on Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick Saturday.
Van Riemsdyk pushed the Blue Jackets back in front, 3-2, by starting a precision-passing play with Cole Sillinger and Damon Severson that he also finished by tapping home his 11thgoal of the season with 2:43 left in the period.
That set the stage for another nail-biting third for the Blue Jackets, who'd finished four of their previous six games in 3-on-3 overtime periods.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cuylle lifts New York Rangers over Columbus Blue Jackets on late goal
