With just 20 games left, every game becomes the biggest game of the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. On Sunday night, they took an important step forward against the New York Rangers.
Adam Fantilli recorded his second hat trick of the season while Mathieu Olivier added a goal and an assist to lift the Blue Jackets to a convincing 7-3 win at Madison Square Garden. Olivier originally was credited with two goals until the NHL announced that his second goal would be given to Kent Johnson. Zach Werenski had two assists and became the franchise’s all-time leader in assists passing Rick Nash’s 258.
A key moment in the second period ultimately decided this game in the Blue Jackets’ favor.
Game Recap
The Blue Jackets took less than six minutes to open the scoring on one of the best assists you can see. Werenski gave the impression he would drive to the net. Instead, his pass found Justin Danforth for a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Jackets played well for the first 19 minutes of the game. But then an icing, a missed assignment and a bouncing puck led to the tying goal. Artemi Panarin tipped in his 28th of the season. That marks five consecutive games with a goal for him.
Then the Fantilli show took over in the second period. He scored twice in 26 seconds on consecutive shifts to build a 3-1 lead. The first one was a snipe. The second one he got lost in coverage and buried from in front of Jonathan Quick.
The Blue Jackets were then given a power play chance with a two-goal lead. Instead of making it 4-1, the Rangers converted on two shorthanded goals to make it 3-3. The first was from Braden Schneider. The second was from Chris Kreider on a 2-on-0 break.
The Blue Jackets had to grab momentum back in a pivotal moment. After taking about 10 game minutes to settle things down, Olivier took charge. He drove the net and received a pass from Werenski to make it 4-3. The team never looked back after that.
Dante Fabbro extended it to 5-3 just 1:44 later on a shot from distance. The Blue Jackets then added two midway through the third period to make it 7-3. Johnson deflected Olivier’s shot off the glove of Zac Jones before going past Quick. Fantilli then completed his hat trick. He became the youngest player in franchise history to record multiple hat tricks in the same season (20 years 148 days.)
Daniil Tarasov was solid at MSG again making 32 saves on the night. Quick played the whole game and allowed seven on 27 shots.
The Blue Jackets play their next most important game of the season across the Hudson River in Newark on Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils. The gap is four points between the two teams. The Rangers in the midst of nine games in 16 days now travel to Winnipeg to play the Jets on Tuesday night.