In New York, Chris Kreider struck for two third period power-play goals, and the New York Rangers blanked the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0, on Friday night.
Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves to record his first shutout of the season.
“He’s athletic, he’s strong, and everything seemed to hit him in the chest,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I think he’s one of the top goalies in the League, no doubt.”
Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin each picked up three assists in the win.
“I thought we managed the puck real well,” Gallant said. “I didn’t think we turned it over near as much in the neutral zone as we did the prior game. Our forecheck was a lot better. I just thought we had 20 guys ready to play tonight.”
Columbus dropped to 4-3-0.
“Too many mental mistakes,” Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said. “I liked our first six, seven minutes and then just blowing coverages. We talked about it, we had to skate. We stopped skating. We gave up way too much and it just snowballed the wrong way for us.
“It wasn’t good enough.”
Ryan Strome gave New York a 1-0 lead in the first period when he drifted into the high slot and one-timed a pass from Fox for the goal.
Fox then assisted on the second of the first period when he fed Alexis Lafreniere on the right side of the cage for a one-timer and 2-0 lead.
“I just turned and looked, and I was looking at the other side and then saw him on the backside,” Fox said. “Nice shot by him to put that in.”
New York improved to 5-2-1.
“They come in bunches,” Kreider said. “I think we were due. We were getting looks, we were hitting posts, and pucks were going in for us tonight. The puck was certainly moving quick. We’ve got an incredible four guys up there on the perimeter and the walls so we’re always a threat to score.”
For the Blue Jackets, it was about their top lines.
“They didn’t play hard enough,” Larsen said. “It wasn’t just them, but they’re our top guys for a reason and they’ve got to bring it. We get on the road here and they’ve got to bring it for three periods, not just for a start. They’ve got to come, and we weren’t there.”
Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves in the Jackets loss.
“We kind of lose ourselves once they scored their first goal,” the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski said. “It kind of took the life out of us, for whatever reason, and we just couldn’t find our game after that. There were shifts where we did some good things, shifts where we had chances, but for the most part it wasn’t to a standard we know we can play at.”
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