3 Rangers takeaways after 1-0 shootout victory over Blue Jackets

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Rangers
Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

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. Shesterkin and Columbus goaltender Daniil Tarasov matched saves for 65 minutes and one shootout round before Vincent Trocheck put the puck in the net for the only time in the game.

No. 31 then closed out the evening by denying Adam Fantilli and Marchenko to give the Rangers their first shootout win in a game that ended 0-0 after overtime since they defeated the Washington Capitals on Dec. 27, 2017. They’re 5-3 all-time in such games, including 4-2 at the Garden.

The victory moved the Rangers (22-20-3) within three points of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets (22-17-7) hold the first wild card with 51 points and are 6-0-1 in their past seven.

The Rangers needed the two points desperately – and they got them despite failing to score a goal. The effects of travel were evident in their fourth game in four cities in eight nights, especially in the first period when Columbus outshot them 15-4. Some wins are pretty, some are gritty – and this one was definitely of the second variety. There were long stretches where not much happened, and Mika Zibanejad had a night he’d like to forget – he took the only two penalties assessed to the Rangers, was stopped on two overtime breakaways and again on a shootout attempt that would have ended the game.

But, in the end, the home side headed for the airport with two points.

“Winning’s fun,” forward Chris Kreider said. “We should keep doing that.”

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3 takeaways from Rangers 1-0 shootout win against Columbus

Here are three takeaways from the win Saturday.

1. Igor on a roll

Shesterkin has been brilliant since returning from a four-game absence on Jan. 9. Since coming back after his upper-body injury, he’s 4-0-1 in five games, allowing just nine goals in that span. Against Columbus, it was obvious from the start that he’d brought his A-game – he read plays well, controlled rebounds and seemed to know where shots were headed even before they left the shooter’s stick.

Nowhere was that more apparent than on his game-ending save on Marchenko.

“I just saw he did a step right, and I know righty players like to do high glove,” Shesterkin said. “But the puck a little bit jumped in front of his stick, and I took the chance.”

The shutout was the 17th of his NHL career, all with the Rangers. He passed John Vanbiesbrouck (16) for ninth place on the Rangers’ all-time list.

“He’s played really well for us, and we need that,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re in a position where we’ve got to win games, win points. He had to be sharp with his game tonight because we weren’t able to get the run support he needed to get out ahead.”

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2. Where’s the offense?

Shesterkin was brilliant, and his teammates helped out by blocking 12 shots and breaking up numerous plays before they could turn into scoring chances.

But the offense fired blanks for 65 minutes and continues to struggle. The Rangers have scored just 12 goals (one into an empty net, and not including the shootout winner) during their 4-0-1 streak. Tarasov matched Shesterkin save for save, but the Rangers went long stretches without generating much offensively, though Laviolette said things got better as the game progressed.

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at New York Rangers
Danny Wild-Imagn Images

“I thought as the game moved on, we got more looks and more chances,” he said. “In overtime, we had chances. The third period we had chances.”

Chances are nice, but goals are what win games. The Rangers are scoring just enough to win for now, but as they chase a playoff berth they’ll need to generate more offense.

Still, as defenseman Adam Fox noted, “Sometimes a boring game instead of a track meet is good. We did a good job of that today.”

3. No rest for the weary

The Rangers will play their fifth game in nine nights in five cities when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. New York is going for a sweep of the three-game season series against the Canadiens, having won 7-2 at Bell Centre on Oct. 22 – the most goals they’ve scored in a game at Montreal in 52 years – and 4-3 at the Garden on Nov. 30.

The Canadiens, who’ve been one of the NHL’s hottest teams since the Christmas break, returned home Saturday after sweeping a two-game trip to Utah and Dallas and wasted little time grabbing a 3-0 lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs. But proving that you should never count your wins before the final siren sounds, the Canadiens coughed up seven straight goals and left Bell Centre with a 7-3 loss.

With both teams playing the second half of a back-to-back, expect each to use its backup goaltender. For the Rangers, that means Jonathan Quick figures to make his first start since Jan. 7, when an early three-goal lead turned into a 5-4 overtime loss to Dallas. But two of Quick’s six wins have come in the victories against the Canadiens.

Montreal is likely to counter with rookie sensation Jakub Dobes, who is 4-0-0 and has allowed just four goals in his four victories. Dobes is a big reason the Canadiens have moved into the wild-card scramble in the East – they’re three points ahead of the Rangers and two behind Ottawa.

It’s another must-win game for the Rangers, who will face a lot more of them in the final three months of the season.

John Kreiser covered his first Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and is still going ... More about John Kreiser
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