Power play propels Rangers past Blue Jackets

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers scored three of their four third-period goals on the power play to win their fourth straight game, a 5-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich each scored a power-play goal in the third for the Rangers, who finished 3-for-5 with the man-advantage.

Michael Grabner scored two goals, including an empty-net goal with 48 seconds remaining, Mika Zibanejad had an NHL career-high three assists, and Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves for New York (7-7-2).
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Rangers highlights]
Buchnevich gave the Rangers their first lead on a shot from the right circle after taking a backhand pass from Zibanejad to make it 4-3 at 11:27 of the third. The goal came 12 seconds after David Savard was penalized for tripping. Zibanejad assisted on all three power-play goals in the third.
"We've been talking about winning puck battles and outworking the opponent on the power play, and we weren't very happy with our power play in the first two periods (0-for-2)," Zibanejad said. "We talked about getting those big goals for the power play, and I think we were able to do that. We have to find a way to keep going."

The Rangers entered the game 10th in the NHL on the power play (21.1 percent).
"Our guys continue to do what they've been doing since Day One; they keep playing and there's no doubt that the difference in the third period was our power play," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Our power play came up and made some big plays right off the bat and we were able to get the lead and keep the lead."
Artemi Panarin, Josh Anderson and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for Columbus (9-5-1).
Kreider tied it 3-3 when he scored a power-play goal from the slot 9:40 into the third period. Buchnevich took the initial shot from the point that deflected onto Kreider's stick. The goal came three seconds after Zac Dalpe was penalized for elbowing.
"We didn't deserve to win," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "We couldn't kill one off. When you take stupid penalties and don't kill them off ... we were a dumb hockey team tonight."

Bjorkstrand tipped in a pass from Brandon Dubinsky from the slot at 8:01 of the third to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.
Shattenkirk extended his point streak to five games (three goals, five assists) when he scored his power-play goal off a wrist shot from the right point at 5:10 of the third period to make it 2-2.
"We all have to be shooters first; that's the first thing we tell each other," Shattenkirk said. "The play on [Buchnevich's] goal only opens up because of first couple we scored. We're simplifying it. We're not doing anything crazy (on the power play), but we know when we have those weapons we have to use them."
Grabner made it 2-1 at 12:41 of the second period when he controlled a pass from J.T. Miller and pushed a shot past Bobrovsky.
"We went down 2-0 and it was kind of a flat game at that point, so a lot of credit to Michael Grabner because his goal really sparked us," Shattenkirk said.

The Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead on goals by Panarin and Anderson in the second. Panarin scored 38 seconds into the period for a 1-0 lead. Anderson scored his sixth of the season off a snap shot from the right circle that beat Lundqvist inside the long-side post at 4:24.

Goal of the game

Buchnevich scored the first game-winning goal of his NHL career at 11:27 of the third period.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky against Mats Zuccarello off a 2-on-1 at 10:13 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Grabner's goal at 12:41 of the second period.

They said it

"It starts with the faceoff [on the penalty kill]. We have to find a way to win those. It was a tough night for the kill; we need to get back to work and try to have a short memory here. Obviously we're not happy with it. It sunk us tonight." -- Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky
"If we want to be a good team, we have to find ways to win the game even though we are down. We did that, and I think obviously the past three games helps that confidence and helps that feeling in the locker room of even if we are down coming into the third to be able to come back." -- Rangers center Mika Zibanejad

Need to know

Panarin, who leads the Blue Jackets with 10 assists, scored his first goal in 11 games. ... Rangers center Boo Nieves missed his second straight game because of an illness. ... The Rangers honored forward Rick Nash for reaching 1,000 NHL career games prior to the game.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Rangers: Host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)