3 Rangers takeaways after 4-0 win over Blue Jackets moves them into playoff position
There were smiles all around for the New York Rangers on Saturday night after they moved into a playoff berth and gained a measure of revenge with a 4-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
The Rangers (33-28-6) flew home for a Sunday night date with the Edmonton Oilers after perhaps their most complete performance of the season, highlighted by Igor Shesterkin’s fifth shutout of the season and the eighth by the Rangers – tying them for the League lead.
The win moved New York past the Blue Jackets and into the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. The Blueshirts are one point ahead of the surging Montreal Canadiens (32-27-7), who have a game in hand, and two in front of the Blue Jackets (31-27-8), who’ve been shut out in back-to-back home games by the Vegas Golden Knights and the Rangers.
But coach Peter Laviolette knows that nothing is guaranteed when there’s still a month to go in the season.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “There’s still teams that are right there. This thing juggles, other teams got a game in hand on us, and so none of that matters. We talked about it. We’re in charge of what we do. We’re in complete charge of winning hockey games and don’t have to look anywhere else. It’s great if other teams don’t win on any given night, but we’ve just got to be responsible for ourselves right now.
“There’s still a ton of work, though, and so that’s the focus that we try to talk about.”
The game against the Oilers is the first of a four-game homestand, all against Canadian teams — including the playoff-bound Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Then it’s off to California next week for three games. The Rangers also have two games left against the Tampa Bay Lightning and one each against the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes – all three are locks to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So while it’s nice to be holding a playoff spot as the season enters its final month, this is no time for the Rangers to take their foot off the gas.
Related: Rangers move into second wild card in East by shutting down Blue Jackets in 4-0 victory
Three takeaways from Rangers 4-0 victory against Blue Jackets
Here are three takeaways from the Rangers’ 4-0 road victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
1. Coming up big is great — now do it again
One week after one of their most discouraging defeats this season — a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators that saw them blow a two-goal lead in the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Rangers came up big in their biggest game so far this season.
The offense generated three goals (plus an empty-netter). The defense was stifling. Shesterkin was up to every test. The penalty-killers were 3-for-3 and scored an empty-netter for their League-leading 14th shorthanded goal.
The Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead 1:43 into the game when Alexis Lafreniere scored for the first time in 15 games and never looked back.
“I thought we got better, honestly, almost every minute of the game,” Laviolette said. “Started a little bit jumpy but by the end of the first I thought we were playing pretty well, and then the second and third, I thought outstanding.
“So that’s three periods, three games in a row where I thought we defended well, defended hard, gives us a chance to be successful.”
2. Back-to-back for Igor?
Shesterkin’s 20th NHL shutout was one of his easiest. He faced 21 shots, just one more than his teammates blocked. The Rangers allowed Columbus few Grade A chances, and he was up to the task when the Jackets managed to mount some pressure.
Now for the big question: After a comparably light night, will Shesterkin play both ends of the weekend back-to-back when the Oilers come to Madison Square Garden on Sunday night?
No. 31 has played both ends of a back-to-back four times in his NHL career – once each in his first four NHL seasons, and not at all since Feb. 25-26, 2023. He was pulled in a 6-3 road loss to the Washington Capitals on the 25th, but made 26 saves the next night in a 5-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at the Garden.
In all, Shesterkin is 7-1-0 in his four back-to-backs, including 4-0-0 in the second games.
So does Laviolette go back to his starter against the high-flying Oilers – or give backup Jonathan Quick a game? He wasn’t divulging anything after the win in Columbus.
“We haven’t talked about anything for tomorrow yet,” was all he would say.
3. Welcome back, Adam Fox
Nearly lost in the excitement of climbing back into a playoff position was the return of Fox, the Rangers’ best defenseman.
The Rangers went 3-3-2 during the eight games Fox missed with an upper-body injury sustained against the New York Islanders on Feb. 25. He played efficiently though not spectacularly, earning an assist, blocking two shots and finishing plus-2 in 20:36 of ice time.
“He had a fine start and got better and better,” Laviolette said.
Fox was happy with his performance in his return, saying that he felt more comfortable as the game progressed.
“When you miss a couple games with an injury and come back, you try not to be a little tentative,” he said. “You want to get that awareness out there. I play kind of an instinctive game, so you’re trying to get that a little bit back. I thought as the game went on, (I) felt a little better. Just tried to keep it as simple as possible.”
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