New York: Derek Stepan scored with 28 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, then got the winner late in the extra period in the New York Rangers’ 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
With their fourth straight win, the Rangers improved to a league-best 109 points, two points ahead of Anaheim for the Presidents’ Trophy.
The Rangers have won the Presidents’ Trophy once in their 88-year history, in the 1993-94 season — the last time the club won the Stanley Cup.
New York’s 51 wins and 109 points are the second most in team history, behind the 52 wins and 112 points the 1993-94 team earned.
“We still want to win all of our games,” said Dan Girardi, who scored for New York, along with Martin St. Louis.
Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves and has won all four games in the current win streak.
In other games, Buffalo topped Carolina 4-3 to avoid guaranteeing the worst record in the NHL for at least another game, Winnipeg gave their play-off hopes a boost with a 2-0 win over Minnesota, and Vancouver strengthened their hold on second place in the Pacific Division with a 2-1 win over Los Angeles.
The Sabres are currently last in the NHL with 54 points, two points behind Edmonton. If they finish with the worst record, they’ll have the best odds at first pick in June’s NHL draft.
Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal and Anders Lindback made 49 saves for the Sabres.
Blake Wheeler and Drew Stafford scored and Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves for the Jets, who improved to 94 points and moved into the last play-off wild-card spot in the Western Conference standings, one point ahead of Los Angeles and Calgary.
Minnesota remained in the first play-off wild-card spot on 96 points after their first loss by more than a goal since January 19.
Vancouver’s Chris Higgins scored in the shootout and Eddie Lack made 36 saves as the Canucks improved to 97 points, four ahead of the Flames and Kings in the Pacific.
Dwight King scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings.
Elsewhere, Jamie Benn scored twice and Colton Sceviour scored in the first 30 seconds as Dallas beat San Jose 5-1 on a night when both teams were eliminated from the play-off race.
