COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After whiffing in two previous tries to secure a spot in the NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers punched their ticket to the postseason Monday night with a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena.
The Rangers (44-26-9) were 0-2-1 and had lost to non-playoff qualifiers Carolina and Buffalo in the past week before taking care of the business on the road against the Blue Jackets. Columbus (31-40-8) is another opponent that will not be advancing past the regular season.
Chris Kreider, Dan Boyle, Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored goals for the Rangers. Nick Foligno had both of the Blue Jackets' goals.
Columbus tried to rally in the third period, closing within 3-2 on Foligno's second goal of the night with 9:15 remaining.
The Blue Jackets had a later power-play opportunity after a Zuccarello penalty for high-sticking. They pulled goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for an extra attacker to make it six-on-four, but Stepan scored on a backhander into an empty net with 1:11 left to secure the victory.
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist bounced back from a subpar outing in his previous game to make 27 saves Monday. On Saturday, he gave up three goals and was pulled early in the second period of a 4-3 loss to the Sabres.
Lundqvist extended his winning streak against Columbus to six games dating to March 2014.
Korpisalo, a rookie, finished with 26 saves.
Hurt by slow starts in the previous four games, the Rangers scored first at 6:17 of the first period. Kreider fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that Korpisalo stopped, but the rebound went right back to Kreider, and his backhander found the net for his 20th goal of the season.
Boyle increased the Rangers' lead to 2-0 at 5:28 of the second period with his ninth goal of the season. His snap shot from a narrow angle snuck past Korpisalo for an unassisted score.
Columbus closed within 2-1 later in the period when Foligno redirected a shot by defenseman David Savard from in front of the goal past Lundqvist.
However, the Rangers answered quickly with a goal from Zuccarello, his 28th of the season, at 18:14 for a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Zuccarello had his initial shot bounce back to him off Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray, and he sent the rebound past Korpisalo.
Blue Jackets defenseman Cody Goloubef sustained an oblique injury in the opening period and didn't return.
The Rangers swept the four-game season series between the Metropolitan Division opponents. New York is third in the division with 97 points, three behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins with three games remaining in the regular season.
NOTES: The Rangers entered the final week of the regular season with a three-game losing streak, including two losses to non-playoff qualifiers. Slow starts had been an issue. They were outscored 5-2 in the first period of their previous four games. ... Rookie G Joonas Korpisalo made his second consecutive start for the Blue Jackets ahead of regular G Sergei Bobrovsky. Korpisalo had 26 saves in Columbus' 5-1 win over Carolina on Saturday. ... F Jared Boll was on the Blue Jackets' fourth line instead of F Scott Hartnell, who hasn't scored since March 4. ... The Rangers finish the regular season with three home games, starting Tuesday night against Tampa Bay. The Blue Jackets play two of their last three on the road, including Wednesday at Toronto.
