The Blue Jackets (39-16-5) took a bite out of the big apple Sunday when they beat the Rangers 5-2 and leapfrogged New York (40-20-2) in the Metro Division standings to now sit at third overall. The team was led by two-goal performances by Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg. It was the second time in two nights that the Jackets earned two points from a divisional opponent.
“I think the first thing is we didn’t try to get too cute,” Brandon Dubinsky said. “For the most part we were just north south. The puck was transitioning quick, it was getting out of our end zone, we were getting pucks deep, we were forechecking, and we were playing consistently for all three periods. It was exactly how we want to play these games.”
The Jackets have scored the first goal against the Rangers in every game against them this season, and tonight was no exception when David Savard, coming off his first career three-point night Saturday, fired a shot from the point that Wennberg tipped in to make it 1-0.
Rick Nash tied it up, but on the Jackets’ first power play of the night, Atkinson fired from the slot off a Sam Gagner feed to make it 2-1 and secure a Jackets lead that the team would not surrender the rest of the night.
In the second period, Wennberg notched his first score after a flurry of Jackets’ shots led to an Oliver Bjorkstrand rebound that Wennberg backhanded past Henrik Lundqvist.
The Jackets weathered significant pushes from the fast-paced Rangers, and the third period saw Atkinson and Wennberg each add another tally, with a final Jackets punctuation mark from Josh Anderson to make it 5-1. It was Anderson’s third goal in two games.
A late Jesper Fast goal got past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 5-2, but the Jackets’ goaltender came out of the game with his 32nd win of the year, tying a career high set during the 2013-14 season.
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