NEW YORK -- The Columbus Blue Jackets knocked off the New York Rangers 4-2 on Thursday night, picking up two important points in the Metropolitan Division in the process.

The win moved the Blue Jackets into a tie with the Rangers (31 points each) for fourth place in the division.

The Rangers (15-17-1) dropped their third straight during a franchise-record, nine-game homestand. New York has been outscored 15-7 in the three games.

Columbus (13-15-3) won for the fourth time in its last five games.

New York center Mats Zuccarello found a streaking Dan Girardi just inside the Columbus zone and the defenseman scored on a one-timer at 11:07 of the third period to draw the Rangers to within a goal at 3-2. But the Blue Jackets put the game out of reach on center Ryan Johansen's team-leading 11th goal of the season at 18:28 of the third.

Columbus successfully killed off three penalties in the second period. New York managed just two shots on its power-play chances.

Blue Jackets goalie Curtis McElhinney suffered a lower-body injury in the first period. He was replaced at the start of the second by Mike McKenna, who was making his first appearance in the net for Columbus since a promotion from Springfield of the AHL on Dec. 4.

Columbus was already thin at the position with Sergei Bobrovsky on injured reserve.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was pulled at 11:10 of the first period in favor of Cam Talbot after defenseman David Savard gave Columbus a 3-0 lead. The Rangers were unable to clear the puck out of the zone and Savard skated in from the top of the slot to score his first goal of the season and just the third in his 58-game NHL career.

Blue Jackets center Artem Anisimov registered his eighth goal of the season when Lundqvist was slow to react to a shot from left winger Blake Comeau. Anisimov deposited the puck into an open net.

Left winger Matt Calvert gave Columbus a quick 1-0 lead just 38 seconds into the game. He received a pass from right winger Cam Atkinson just inside the Rangers blue line, blew past defenseman Anton Stralman and fired a wrist shot over Lundqvist's shoulder for his fourth goal of the season.

New York center Dominic Moore scored on the backhand at 14:08 after McElhinney stopped Brad Richards' shot. Richards had five of the Rangers' 16 first-period shots on goal.

NOTES: In an effort to add toughness to their defense, the Rangers called up Dylan McIlrath from Hartford of the AHL. In 24 games with Hartford, McIlrath accumulated 115 penalty minutes. New York's first-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft was paired with D John Moore. ... Rangers captain, RW Ryan Callahan, is out for four weeks with a sprained MCL sustained Tuesday night against Nashville. ... Columbus LW Nick Foligno is second in the league in shooting percentage at .225. He has scored nine goals on 40 shots. ... The Rangers have held opponents to two or fewer goals in 17 of the last 26 games. ... New York is tied for second in the NHL with four shutouts.