COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan each scored their 20th goals and had an assist, and the New York Rangers hung on to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 Monday night to earn a sixth-consecutive playoff berth.
Dan Boyle and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game skid and moved three points behind second-place Pittsburgh. They remain two points ahead of the fourth-place Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.
The Rangers clinched playing down a defenseman most of the way. Captain Ryan McDonagh was injured blocking a shot early in the first period and left the game.
Henrik Lundqvist made 27 stops for his 34th win.
Nick Foligno scored twice for Columbus, which pulled within one with 9:15 remaining before conceding an empty-net goal.
The Blue Jackets were again without former Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovksy, who was a healthy scratch by coach John Tortorella in favor of impressive rookie Joonas Korpisalo. The 21-year-old made 26 saves.
The Rangers finally got off to a good start, scoring the first two goals of the game. On the attack with speed, Kreider took a drop pass from Stepan - who picked up his 300th career point - in traffic and fired a low shot that Korpisalo couldn’t control. Sliding on his knees and with Dalton Prout on his back, Kreider was able to get the rebound and score on the backhand at 6:17 of the first period.
Early in the second, Columbus had trouble clearing its own zone. The puck came to Boyle and he glided to the net before sneaking a shot under Korpisalo at 5:28 0.
Foligno cut the lead to one at 14:41, deflecting David Savard’s shot in front of Lundqvist for his first goal in 16 games.
Four minutes later, Kreider forced a turnover to create an odd-man break and found Zuccarello, who scored from the slot for his career-high 26th goal to make it 3-1.
Columbus made it interesting late in the third period when Foligno scored his 11th on a nice individual effort around Kevin Klein before tucking the puck behind Lundqvist with 9:15 remaining.
Zuccarello was sent off for high-sticking Foligno with 2:03 remaining, but Stepan scored into an empty net with 1:11 left to end the Blue Jackets’ comeback bid.
NOTES: The Rangers host Tampa Bay on Tuesday, and then play the visiting Islanders and Detroit to finish the season. ... Tortorella also scratched 15-year veteran Scott Hartnell for the third time this season. Hartnell has one goal and is a minus 10 in his last 13 games. ... New York swept the four-game season series. ... Blue Jackets C Gregory Campbell played his 800th career game. ... Lundqvist earned his fourth assist of the season on Kreider’s goal to tie his season high. He has 21 career assists. ... Columbus D Cody Goloubef left the game in the first period with an oblique injury.