Goodbye Columbus - Rangers win 3-2 in OT.

It was an overtime the Rangers had hoped to avoid.

They led 2-1 over the Columbus Blue Jackets (they still don't sound like a real team to me). There was less than 2 minutes to go. Columbus Goalie Steve Mason was pulled - reduced to watching the action from off the ice (like the rest of us).

Hank had let up just one goal. We were all tired from the earlier Lin-sanity Knick win in the same day in the same building and wanted to get home.

But Rick Nash - star forward and the target of some big Ranger Trade rumors - had his own ideas.

All we needed was puck possession and a shot at an empty net. We didn't get it. Instead - Rick Nash beat Lundqvist and instead of heading home, we were headed to overtime (see what I did there?)

As the Ranger fans chanted "we don't want you" to Nash (hopefully heard by Glen Sather) we settled down in our seats and prepared for some Overtime.

As it turned out - we didn't get much.

In the first half minute of extra time Michael Del Zotto took a pass from Gaborik and faked a shot at Mason that was really a sneaky pass to Derek Stepan. Steps directed the brilliant feed toward a big empty portion of net - the buzzer sounded - the Rangers mobbed Stepan - and we all went home happy.

Goals for Anisimov, Richards, and of course Stepan.

Two big assists for Del Zotto and singles for Gaborik, Mitchell, Girardi, and Hagelin

Hank's save percentage was .913%. Mason's was slightly better at .914%, but the Ranger offense and defense won the day by getting 12 more shots on goal than their Ohio opponents.

So the first place Rangers roll on and the trade deadline creeps up on us. Let's hope Sather has enough sense to not mess with something that's working. This one time, anyway. Please Glen?

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