In Columbus, the New York Rangers reverted to form with an absent-minded 5-3 loss to the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Boone Jenner hit for a natural hat trick to erase an early 1-0 lead the Rangers had taken on a goal from Erik Gustafsson.
“Obviously, it doesn’t happen often so I tried to soak it in when it happens,” Boone said of his second NHL hat trick. “It’s pretty cool and the fans were cheering; pretty special. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s a good feeling.”
Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves through 40 minutes of play, he left the game in the second intermission for illness.
Spencer Martin made 15 saves in relief in the third period.
“We managed the game really well the first two periods,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “It got a little tight in the third, but it’s a process. A really hard win bouncing back from a loss.”
The Rangers had two goals overturned for offsides in the first period.
David Jiricek pushed the Columbus lead to 4-1 in the second period.
“In the first I was a little nervous,” said Jiricek, the No. 6 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. “It was my first start (with the Blue Jackets) this year, so it was tough. I handled it well and want to just keep it going right now.”
Will Cuylle scored his first for New York in the third to trim the deficit to 4-2, but Justin Danforth scored for Columbus at 15:54 for a 5-2 lead.
Kreider scored off the power play with less than a minute left on the game clock for the 5-3 final.
“We were getting a lot of good looks but equally giving up a lot of good looks,” Rangers’ Jacob Trouba, said. “We just lost the tightness we had and dug ourselves too deep of a whole.”
Igor Shesterkin made 16 saves in a sub par performance.
“The process was good,” New York forward Chris Kreider said. “We generated a lot of shot attempts but we gave up a few too many big chances and they capitalized.”
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