In Manhattan, the New York Rangers were bitten by a late goal and lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1, on Sunday night.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the third period with 27 seconds left on the regulation clock for the winner.
The goal came off a slapper from the high slot.
“It’s a nice play by [Dubois] driving (to the net) and making space for me,” Bjorkstrand said. “Definitely had some time to shoot it.”
The goal was made possible by a horrific line change by the Rangers.
, “To give up a 3-on-2 with [27] seconds to go is just inexcusable,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “A really bad change, bad F3 at the wrong time. But we were playing with fire for a while, I thought. Just disappointing, but listen, we’ve got to move past it and get ready for Tuesday (against the New York Islanders).”
It was the sort of change that costs skaters a roster spot.
“Right now, we’re trying to ride this wave as best we can,” Columbus head coach John Tortorella said. “We’ll have some struggles along the way again, but I just believe the team will handle itself the right way.”
Brady Skjei scored the Rangers lone goal.
“Really frustrating way to end,” Skjei said. “Last minute of the game, you’ve got to bear down and can’t give up a shot in the middle of the hash marks. Frustrating. We’ll learn from it.”
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Rangers highlights]
Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves but was victimized by his team abandoning him in the final minute.
“I just didn’t think we had a lot of energy for the third period,” Quinn said. “I thought our second period was OK, I didn’t love our first. Just pretty much got what we deserved when the night ended.”
Inexcusable is not having energy against a team you are chasing in the ladder race.
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