Time: 6:00 PM EST Venue: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio, 43215 / The Columbus Blue Jackets dealt with a disciplinary issue for starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and picked up two overtime wins. Columbus seeks a third straight win Sunday night when it hosts the New York Rangers, though it is unknown if Bobrovsky will be in goal. Bobrovsky has sat for the last two games because he reportedly was involved in an "incident" that "failed to meet expectations and values" of the Blue Jackets. The incident reportedly occurred in a 4-0 loss at Tampa Bay on Tuesday after he was pulled from the game. Bobrovsky sat out overtime wins against Nashville on home ice Thursday and did not play a 2-1 overtime win at Washington on Saturday, though he traveled with the team. Backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped 32 shots Saturday and has won his last three starts. The only time this season he started three straight games was Oct. 25-30." I don't want to bother my mind on those kind of (things), but it's reality," Korpisalo told reporters. "You never know what's going to happen. It doesn't matter what's going around. I just do my best every day." On Saturday, Artemi Panarin scored his second straight game-winning goal in overtime and his two tallies continued a hot streak for the Blue Jackets, who are 8-3 in their last 11 games since Dec. 15." I loved the way we found a way to get the job done in overtime," Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. "'Bread,' that's what he brings to this team. It's a great sign for our confidence right now." Panarin has four overtime goals this season and is the 21st player in NHL history to score at least four goals beyond regulation in a single season. He also has seven goals in his last 10 games. Korpisalo made 19 saves on Dec. 27 at New York when Pierre-Luc Dubois scored 31 seconds into overtime to give Columbus a 4-3 win after the Blue Jackets tied the game with less than three minutes left. The Rangers head to Columbus after halting a season-high five-game losing streak with a 2-1 road win over the rival New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon. Mats Zuccarello scored the game-winning goal in the third period and backup goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves." We have to string a few more like this together," Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei said. "Keep building off this one and get back in the playoff hunt." Before Saturday, the Rangers were outscored 26-8 in a losing streak that featured three lopsided losses following one-goal wins in Nashville and St. Louis Dec. 29-31. Despite the win, the Rangers are well behind in the playoff race since they are 6-11-5 in their last 22 games since Nov. 21." I don't love the word 'desperate.' I'll say 'urgent,'" New York coach David Quinn said. "There was certainly an urgency to where we are in the season and the way things have gone. We've been getting more urgent with every mounting loss." The Rangers played without Kevin Hayes, who missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. Hayes is second on the Rangers with 33 points and likely will sit out again. The road team has won the first two meetings as Jimmy Vesey scored the game-winner in the shootout for the Rangers in a 5-4 win on Nov. 10. Before the game, Rick Nash will drop the ceremonial first puck two days after retiring due to concussion-related symptoms. Nash was a Blue Jacket from 2003-2012 before being traded to the Rangers and ended his career with the Boston Bruins.--Field Level Media
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