Flashy Moves, a Quick Strike and a Win - New York Times

But after watching defenseman Michael Del Zotto, 21, make a gorgeous pass to forward Derek Stepan, also 21, for a goal 22 seconds into overtime to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory, Howson will also understand why his counterpart, Glen Sather, is reluctant to trade any of his talented, young players for Nash.

Stepan’s winning goal came after some dazzling puck movement by Del Zotto and Marian Gaborik in the opening shift of overtime. With the puck alone to the left of goaltender Steve Mason, Del Zotto surprised the Blue Jackets by sliding it across the ice to Stepan, who snapped it into the unguarded net.

“Gabby set it up and Michael made a great pass,” Stepan said. “They did all the work. I was just in the right spot.”

The first-place Rangers, who play Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, have a 9-point lead over Boston and the Devils in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers and the Bruins each have 25 games left in the regular season. The Devils have 24.

Just as impressive, the Rangers have followed each of their last eight losses with a victory.

“We wanted to make sure we responded after that Chicago game,” the captain Ryan Callahan said, referring to the Rangers’ 4-2 loss Thursday to the Blackhawks. “We wanted to have a strong start and put the loss behind us. I thought we controlled the puck for most of the game.”

The Rangers did, outshooting Columbus, 35-23, and winning a majority of the puck battles. But they failed to protect a 2-1 lead late in the game with Mason pulled for an extra attacker. Nash showed off his offensive skills, sending a wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist with 1 minute 33 seconds left in regulation.

“We made it a little closer than we should have,” said Del Zotto, who had two assists and was outstanding in more than 25 minutes before his play on the winning goal. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. But we’ll take the two points.”

The speed of the rookie Carl Hagelin, another young player Howson would covet, was the catalyst for Brad Richards’s goal to open the scoring. Richards took a pass from Del Zotto inside the Rangers’ zone and skated toward the Columbus goal. Recognizing that Hagelin had a step on his defender, Richards flipped him a lead pass over the opposing blue line.

Instead of shooting, Hagelin slid the puck back to Richards, who finished the give-and-go by scoring on Mason for a 1-0 Rangers lead with 2:11 left in the first period. Derick Brassard tied the score with a power-play goal at 5:26 of the second period. With Gaborik serving a high-sticking penalty for accidentally hitting defenseman Aaron Johnson in the visor, Brassard — a forward playing the point — accepted the puck after Columbus won the face-off deep in the Rangers’ zone and slapped it by Lundqvist, who was screened.

Although the Rangers failed to score on a five-on-three power play in the middle of the second, Artem Anisimov’s goal two minutes later gave them a 2-1 lead. Anisimov scored when Mason and his teammates were unable to corral a shot from the point by defenseman Dan Girardi that bounced off the boards behind the Columbus goal and landed in front of the crease. The goal, at 13:13 of the second period, was Anisimov’s fourth in his last eight games.

Del Zotto appeared to give the Rangers a two-goal cushion at the end of the second period, but it was ruled that his shot crossed the goal line after time had expired. MSG Network showed the shot entering the goal with a tenth of a second left on the clock, but the referees — after N.H.L. hockey operations officials in Toronto reviewed the play — announced that time had expired on the official timer as the puck was still on the goal line.

“It was frustrating, but their clock said differently,” Del Zotto said. “All you can do is move on.”

Howson is listening to offers for Nash, the team’s captain and best player, because he could receive a package of assets to help start a rebuilding of the club. Nash was tight-lipped in a discussion with reporters before the game. He seemed eager for the rumors to end, while showing respect to the Blue Jackets and claiming not to be bothered by the speculation.

“It’s going to take care of itself,” Nash said. “I just worry about today. Right now, I’m a Blue Jacket. That’s all that matters. I played my whole career here. I don’t fall into any of those rumors. All I’m dealing with is a game that I have to play in a few hours. That’s all I’m worrying about.”

Nash responded with a “no comment” to a final pair of questions — one about his hopes not to see the trade process drag into the summer, another asking if he envisions himself living in a big market like New York — before politely ending the interview and going on to score the second-most important goal of the game.

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