Jackets hold off Rangers to sweep back-to-back

Blue Jackets 7, Rangers 5

They fired the cannon for Blue Jackets goals Sunday night at Nationwide Arena, but if you listened close you might’ve heard the sound of a cash register, too.

“This is an ‘in the bank,’ game for me,” coach John Tortorella said, prior to the Jackets’ 7-5 victory against the New York Rangers to sweep a back-to-back that began Saturday with a 4-3 overtime win in Washington. “Getting points in the bank, now, to where it helps you in April, I think this is a really important game for that because I think we feel good about ourselves.”

He was eager to see whether the Jackets felt too good about themselves, satisfied with what they’d already done by responding

to an ugly loss Tuesday at the Tampa Bay Lightning with wins against two of the NHL’S top teams — the Nashville Predators and Capitals.

This was also the fourth game in six days for Columbus and could’ve been one of those cruise-control nights with a day off looming Monday.

“I think you can talk yourself into not having energy tonight,” Tortorella said. “I hope we talk ourselves into just trying to finish these six days the proper way.”

Ultimately, that’s exactly what happened, even if it did get a little ugly in the third period.

Nick Foligno scored two goals, Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson had a goal and assist each, defenseman Ryan Murray finished with two assists after

returning from an illness and the Blue jackets (27-15-3) got points from 13 different players to win their third straight game.

“We found another way to get two points out of it,” said Foligno, whose second goal was the final one in the game and sealed the win with 1:46 left in the third period. “You can make all the excuses in the world with how much hockey we’ve played of late, but you’ve got to find a way to get it done and we did tonight.”

Lukas Sedlak, David Savard and Anthony Duclair also scored for the Jackets, who moved into second place of the Metropolitan Division with 57 points.

They’re two points behind the Capitals and one ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a tight division race that includes the New York Islanders (54 points), who downed the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Sunday night.

It wasn’t as comfortable as it could’ve been, though.

Columbus held leads of 3-1, 4-2, 5-3 and 6-4 before Foligno’s second goal of the game finally provided the final margin. Prior to that score, the Rangers scrapped their way back into the game with goals that made the Jackets play hard right to the end.

Each time New York pulled closer, the Jackets responded with goals of their own — backing up goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on a tough night in net to cap a tough week for him. It was the first action for Bobrovsky since taking the loss at the Lightning on Tuesday, then missing the game against the Predators as a disciplinary measure stemming from an undisclosed “incident” in Tampa.

“We move ahead,” said Bobrovsky, who allowed five goals on 27 shots. “I get back to

work and do my things, try to do my best to help this team win.”