James van Riemsdyk scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to extend their win streak to six games — their longest since January 2020.

COLUMBUS -- James van Riemsdyk scored twice, and Zach Werenski extended his home point streak to 18 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who won their sixth straight game with a 4-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

A strong first two periods helped the Blue Jackets survive a third-period push from the Sharks before van Riemsdyk found the empty net.

A tired but happy group of New York Rangers hopped a plane for Montreal late Saturday night after a 1-0 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden. Cries of “Igor, Igor” rained down on Igor Shesterkin after he completed the victory by denying Kirill Marchenko in the third round to end the game and extend the Rangers’ point streak to 5-0-2.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers met for the first time this season Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers entered the game five points behind the Blue Jackets in the standings right in the thick of the wildcard race in the Eastern Conference.

The New York Rangers return home for the first game of a back-to-back set, a Metro Division clash with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at MSG (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG Network - Radio: ESPN 880 AM).