Lafreniere ties it late with 2nd goal; Panarin extends season-opening streak to 14 games

Alexis LaFreniere tied it with 11 seconds left in the third period for the New York Rangers, who ended their point streak with a 4-3 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. Extended to 10 games.

Lafreniere tied it at 3-3 with Chris Kreider’s backhand pass off the right post and Jonathan Quick pulled in for the extra skater. It was the second goal of the game for Lafreniere, who then scored the only goal in the third round of the shootout.

“It’s still really early in the season,” Lafreniere said. “We’ve got a lot of games to play, so I’m just trying to stay consistent and keep playing well.”

Rangers coach Peter Lavillette said he used it as a reward for finishing third in the shootout.

“He seems to be in a good place right now,” he said. “We have a lot of guys on our team who have good shooting percentages in terms of shootouts. I created some slots for him based on the way he plays.

Artemi Panarin had two assists to extend his season-opening point streak to 14 games, and Kreider had a goal and an assist for the Rangers (11-2-1), who are 9-0 during the streak. 1 are Save 25 instantly.

Elvis Murzlikans made 37 saves, including 16 in the third period, for the Blue Jackets (4-7-4), who have lost five straight (0-3-2). Eric Gudbranson had two assists.

“We have no room for error right now,” Columbus forward Sean Corali said. “It’s tough for us to get two points.” It will be until we figure it out. We’ve got to learn how to build that thin margin of error, and right now it’s not easy and we’re going to have to fight it.”

Justin Danforth gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 16:26 of the first period, tipping in Gudbranson’s shot from the right side.

Kreider tied it at 1-1 with a one-timer from the right circle at 18:46. It was his 10th goal of the season.

Lafreniere put the Rangers up 2-1 with a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Vincent Trocheck at 11:27 of the second period.

Panarin, who had a secondary assist on that play, has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) during his point streak, tied for the longest season start in Rangers history by Rod Gilbert (1972-73).

“It means, honestly, a lot to me,” Panarin said. “It’s a good feeling. Thanks to my partners and fans for their support.

Adam Fantelli stole the puck in the neutral zone and scored off a blocker side from the right circle to make it 2-2 at 12:35 of the second.

Coralie scored on a diving rebound 19 seconds later to put Columbus up 3-2.

“We played hard, played a good game,” Danforth said. “This is another moral victory. We’re not looking for these people. We’re trying to shut down the games. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. Just shut down these games. Just A couple of bounces and they score late on.

New York outscored Columbus 17-3 in the third period.

“It was a wild one,” Laviolette said. “It wasn’t going our way most of the night, but in the third period we worked hard to make sure we tried to get points, one point, two points. In the third period, guys came out strong. Keep on putting.

NOTES: Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren left with an upper-body injury at 1:30 of the third period after a roughing penalty by Corali. … Lafreniere has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Blue Jackets forward Jack Roslovich played in his 400th NHL game. … Zach Werenski had a secondary assist on Danforth’s goal. It was his 173rd in the NHL, tying Seth Jones for the most by a defenseman in Blue Jackets history. … Fantelli scored in two straight games and extended his point streak to three games (two goals, one assist).