Winners, losers from Rangers crucial 4-0 win over Blue Jackets
In a must-win game for the New York Rangers that came with a heavy four-point swing in the race for the wild card in the Eastern Conference, a near-perfect outing saw them earn a crucial 4-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena Saturday night.
The win puts the Rangers two points ahead of the Blue Jackets in the standings, and gives them sole possession of the second wild card in the East. A position they held for just about 24 hours before an 0-2-2 run saw them fall in the standings. Now, the Rangers are riding a two-game win streak thanks to a team-effort win over their Metropolitan Division counterparts.
With 15 games remaining, the Rangers are still going to need to string together some wins. They’re still chasing the Ottawa Senators, who are the first wild card and five points ahead with 77 points, and the New Jersey Devils, who are now just six points ahead of New York in third place in the Metropolitan Division. And the Rangers only have a one-point lead over the Montreal Canadiens, who have a game in hand.
Now, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the game Saturday.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from massive 4-0 win against Blue Jackets
Winner – Igor Shesterkin – Rangers
Though it wasn’t the busiest night for Igor Shesterkin, when the Rangers needed their netminder to come up big, he delivered. Shesterkin stopped all 21 shots on goal, and survived flurries of chances in both the first and third periods to keep Columbus off the board. Shesterkin now has two straight shutouts against the Blue Jackets, and five this season, his most since he had six in 2021-22, the season he won the Vezina Trophy.
Loser – Dimitri Voronkov – Blue Jackets
Early in the first period when the Rangers had a 1-0 lead, the Blue Jackets responded with a strong push. That included a prime scoring chance by Dimitri Voronkov, who beat the Rangers defense and Shesterkin, but slid the puck off the post with a wide-open net. If this goes in, it’s a 1-1 game and an entirely new narrative. A tough break for Voronkov, who slammed his stick in frustration against the back boards.
Winner – Adam Fox – Rangers
It was a welcome sight to see Adam Fox return to the Rangers lineup after missing the past eight games with an upper-body injury. Fox got better as the game progressed, picked up an assist on New York’s empty net goal in the third period, and finished the game a plus-two with 20:36 TOI. A solid return for Fox, who provides a massive boost to the Rangers defense core.
Loser – Carson Soucy – Rangers
Of course, going hand in hand with Fox coming back into the lineup is that Carson Soucy was the odd-man out as a healthy scratch for the Rangers. It’s hard to see why Peter Laviolette decided to scratch Soucy, whose played well in four games since he was acquired by the Vancouver Canucks ahead of the trade deadline. Nonetheless, until something changes, the Rangers have a $3.25 million scratch watching from the press box.
Winner – Alexis Lafreniere – Rangers
It had been 14 games since Alexis Lafreniere’s last goal for the Rangers, but the 23-year-old potted a big one to get the scoring started for the Rangers just 1:43 into the first period. While it was largely due to a misplay of the puck by Columbus goalie Daniil Tarasov, Lafreniere was in the right place at the right time and was able to cash in. The goal looked like it gave him some jump, since Lafreniere was one of the Rangers most noticeable skaters for a change. He also chipped in with an assist on Artemi Panarin’s crucial goal, which made it 2-0 at 11:36 of the second period.
Loser – Scoring touch- Blue Jackets
Make it two straight games that the Blue Jackets were blanked at home, both by identical 4-0 scores. First, they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights at home on Thursday, and followed it up with an identical result against the Rangers on Saturday. They didn’t look like the same team that hung seven goals on the Rangers last Sunday in a 7-3 road win at MSG. They’ve lost three in a row since then, five of six, and could be fading from the playoff chase.
More About:New York Rangers News