Blue Jackets top Rangers, extend point streak to 11 games

Adam Fantilli scored twice, helping the Columbus Blue Jackets extend their point streak to 11 games with a 6-3 win against the New York Rangers at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Thursday.

Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist, Zach Werenski had three assists, and Jet Greaves made 22 saves for the Blue Jackets (36-21-11), who are 7-0-4 on the streak, which includes three straight wins.

Columbus moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division with 83 points, tied with the New York Islanders in points but with one less game played.

“There are hard games to play,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness said. “(The Rangers) are out of the playoffs, and they have a lot of speed and they’ve got a lot of skill. And they’re just playing loose hockey. Those are very tough games to play.  

“So, no, that wasn’t our best. But when you can say that and say you still won the game, that’s pretty good.”

Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves for the Rangers (28-33-8), who have lost three in a row, including 6-3 at home to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

New York is last in the Eastern Conference with 64 points and is five points behind the Florida Panthers, the next closest team.

“We’re no different than any other team. Everybody’s got to play back-to-back in this League,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “So, I thought early on in the game, we take a couple penalties right away that put us on our heels. I thought as the game went on, 5-on-5, we got better.” 

Vincent Trocheck put New York ahead 1-0 on a short-handed breakaway at 5:41 of the first period. He tipped the puck away from Werenski at the opposite blue line and went in for a wrist shot through Greaves’ five-hole.

Isac Lundestrom tied it 1-1 at 14:33 with a wrist shot over Shesterkin’s left shoulder and in off the right post, set up by Jenner bouncing the puck off the boards to the high slot.

Conor Garland gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead at 19:01. Rangers defenseman Matthew Robertson tipped Garland’s shot into the air before it went in off the face of his defense partner, Braden Schneider.

Zibanejad evened it 2-2 at 4:44 with a snap shot on a rush from above the left circle that went in off Greaves’ glove.

“Tough opponent, obviously,” Zibanejad said. “Coming in here after playing yesterday, we knew it was going to be tough. But I feel like we talked about getting a response. ... A bit better today than yesterday, but not good enough to beat this team, unfortunately.”  

Jenner answered 2:20 later, putting Columbus ahead 3-2 at 7:04 by following his own shot and tapping in the rebound.

Fantilli made it 4-2 on a power play at 15:25, redirecting a point shot from Werenski past Shesterkin.

“We’re definitely not going to get overconfident,” Werenski said. “We’re a long way from where we want to be. That’s with an ‘X’ next to our name. ... We do have a great team in here and we are aware of that.”

Lafreniere cut it to 4-3 with a power-play goal 50 seconds into the third period, jumping in front of Greaves to tip a shot from Adam Fox.

“Our special teams could’ve done a better job, for sure,” Fox said. “We got the goal, but didn’t get too much momentum from our power play.”

Damon Severson extended the lead to 5-3 at 6:12 by chipping in a rebound off a shot from Cole Sillinger.

Fantilli scored an empty-net goal at 17:06 for the 6-3 final.

“Not every game is going to be perfect,” Fantilli said. “(Bowness) said, ‘Not every game’s going to be Picasso.’ To be able to find wins like that is huge.”

NOTES: Fantilli has 21 goals after scoring 31 last season. He is the third Blue Jackets player with multiple 20-goal seasons before his 22nd birthday. Rick Nash and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had two. ... Werenski has 72 points (20 goals, 52 assists) in 61 games, reaching 70 points in a second NHL season to tie Artemi Panarin for the most in Blue Jackets history. He had his third three-assist game this season, behind Panarin (four in 2017-18 and 2018-19) and Sean Monahan (four in 2024-25) for the most in a season by a Blue Jackets player. ... The Rangers were 1-for-6 on the power play. They’ve scored once on eight chances in their past two games.