Fantilli gets hat trick, Blue Jackets defeat Rangers

NEW YORK -- Adam Fantilli scored his second hat trick of the season, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-3 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Fantilli had his first NHL hat trick in a 5-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 22. He has 10 goals in the past 16 games, and 21 this season, making good on an opportunity for a bigger role with Sean Monahan sidelined with a wrist injury.

"I'm feeling confident," Fantilli said. "I've said it so many times before that I've gotten to watch some pretty amazing centermen and I had to learn just how to chill out and slow down in my D-zone. I think that's helped produce offense in a weird way. The better you are there the less time you spend there and the quicker you can get in the O-zone. A lot of credit to Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner. I've been playing behind them for a long time. It (stinks) the way I was able to get this opportunity but I'm very grateful to have it."

Zach Werenski had two assists to pass Rick Nash for the most assists in Blue Jackets history (260). Mathieu Olivier scored the game-winning goal, Dante Fabbro had a goal and an assist, and Daniil Tarasov made 32 saves. Dmitri Voronkov had assists on two of Fantilli's goals.

The Blue Jackets (31-24-8), who lost their previous two games, moved into the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

"I think we played how we play," Columbus coach Dean Evason said. "We talked about it before the game about the last two hockey games we didn't look like ourselves, we didn't play like ourselves. Maybe there's an element coming off the outdoor game (on March 1). Maybe the trade deadline and all that stuff. We were a little tentative, we were a little apprehensive, and tonight we weren't. We played hard. We played right."

Chris Kreider and Braden Schneider scored short-handed goals on the same penalty kill, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists, and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for New York, which has lost three games in a row (0-1-2).

The Rangers (31-27-6) are one point behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. They lost in Ottawa on Saturday, 4-3 in overtime.

They play their next three games on the road at the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and in Columbus on Saturday.

"We have 18 more games," Zibanejad said. "Yes, it's tough, especially two teams we're battling against. As frustrating as it is, and trust me it is, we have a big road trip coming up, we're getting these guys again next weekend, just have to find a way to win the games."

Justin Danforth gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 5:56 of the first period.

On the goal, Werenski collected the 259th assist of his career, passing Nash to become Columbus' all-time franchise assists leader. It was also his 47th assist of the season, breaking his own record for most assists by a Blue Jackets defenseman in a single season.

"I just want to keep helping this team win," Werenski said.

Artemi Panarin tied it 1-1 at 19:31 with a deflection of Alexis Lafreniere's shot to extend his goal scoring streak to five games.

Fantilli made it 2-1 at 3:07 of the second, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1, pulling it in and around K'Andre Miller, and scoring with a shot from the right circle. He scored again 26 seconds later off a pass from Voronkov to give Columbus a 3-1 lead at 3:33.

But the Rangers tied it with consecutive short-handed goals on the same penalty kill.

Schneider cut it to 3-2 at 6:54 with a shot from the right circle. Kreider scored on a 2-on-0 with Mika Zibanejad to get it even at 3-3 at 7:36.

"I hated the bang-bang at the start of the second period," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "We fight back and get the two short-handed goals and now we're in the game again. Then it's right at the end of the period bang-bang again."

Columbus regained the lead, 4-3, on Olivier's goal at 17:03, a net-front deflection of Werenski's pass off the left-wing wall.

Fabbro made it 5-3 at 18:47 with a snap shot from above the right circle.

"The shorties were tough, but I thought we regrouped well, got to our game again," Werenski said. "When we play like that, when we're playing hard, playing fast, playing above them, we're a good hockey team in this League. I think we showed that tonight."

Kent Johnson extended the lead to 6-3 at 10:17 of the third period on a goal originally credited to Olivier, who drove the puck through the left circle and shoveled it at the net. After Johnson got a touch on it, Zac Jones knocked the rebound out of middair with his glove past Quick.

Fantilli completed his hat trick at 11:51, making it 7-3 with a shot from between the circles.

"We just got back to our game, which is a lot more direct," Olivier said. "We got inside and I thought we handled those two short-handed goals we gave up really well. It could have been a turning point in the game, but we handled it and we turned the momentum around, found a way to get it done. Really resilient our group tonight."

Notes: Fantilli is the first player to have at least two hat tricks in a season at age 20 or younger since Patrik Laine had three with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018-19. … The last time the Rangers scored two short-handed goals on the same penalty kill was March 5, 2014 against Toronto. It was the first time they scored two short-handed goals in the same game since Nov. 30, 2019 against the New Jersey Devils.