Rangers fall 6-3 to Blue Jackets for third straight loss: Takeaways
The New York Rangers’ four-game winning streak last week is now a distant memory. It’s been replaced by a three-game losing streak that continued Thursday night when they lost 6-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
The Blueshirts weren’t overwhelmed the way they were in their 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. But good teams take advantage of bad teams’ mistakes, and the Rangers made too many against a Blue Jackets team that improved to 17-2-4 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason behind the bench in mid-January and has points in 11 straight games (7-0-4). The win moved the Jackets past the New York Islanders into third place in the Metropolitan Division; each has 83 points but Columbus has a game in hand.
Alexis Lafreniere scored his 20th goal of the season and added an assist for the Rangers. Mika Zibanejad also had a goal and an assist, Vincent Trocheck also scored and Igor Shesterkin played better than his final stats (31 saves on 36 shots) would indicate. The Blueshirts managed just 25 shots against Jet Greaves. It’s their ninth losing streak of at least three games this season.
“Our goalies have been giving us a chance to win every night,” Zibanejad said. “A bit better today, but not good enough to beat this team.”
The Rangers fell to 28-33-6, a distant last in the Eastern Conference and 29th in the overall standings.
As was the case 24 hours earlier, the only Ranger who was ready to play from the drop of the puck was the goaltender. Vladislav Gavrikov took a hooking penalty 45 seconds into the game and the Blue Jackets spent the next two minutes firing away, forcing Shesterkin to make eight saves in two minutes.
Tye Kartye gave Columbus a second power play when he was called for a high-sticking penalty at 4:53. This time, however, the Rangers not only killed the man-advantage, they took the lead on Vincent Trocheck’s shorthanded goal at 5:41. Trocheck picked the pocket of fellow Team USA member Brad Werenski at the left point, raced in alone and snapped a quick shot past Greaves.
Each team had chances during the next few minutes, but the Jackets began to control play again and tied the game 1-1 at 14:33 by taking advantage of a mistake by Kartye. The recently acquired forward tried to fly the zone, only to have Isac Lundstrom step into the vacated ice, take a pass from Boone Jenner and beat Shesterkin with a perfect wrist shot.
New York did nothing on its first power play, and it looked like the Rangers might get out of the period even despite being badly outplayed — but again as was the case 24 hours earlier, they gave up a goal in the final minute of the period.
To be fair, this one was a fluke. Matthew Robertson deflected Conor Garland’s pass in front of the net – only to see the puck carom off the head of defense partner Braden Schneider and float past Shesterkin at 19:01 to put Columbus ahead 2-1. It capped a period that saw the Rangers outshot 14-8, out-attempted 27-15, surrender 12 turnovers and generate just three high-danger scoring chances in all situations while allowing eight, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Just as he did Wednesday, Zibanejad tied the game 2-2 early in the second period. Lafreniere’s diving clear in his own zone sprung No. 93, who raced in and beat Greaves from the left circle at 4:44 for his team-leading 29th goal.
The 2-2 tie lasted just 2:20 until Jenner fired home his own rebound to put Columbus back in front. Shesterkin stopped Jenner’s shot from the right circle but couldn’t control the puck; the Jackets’ captain went to the net and put his team ahead 3-2 at 7:04.
The Rangers have struggled to kill penalties since play resumed after the Olympic break, and that problem bit them again after a botched change resulted in a bench minor for too many men. Adam Fantilli set up in the slot and defected Werenski’s straightaway slapper from just inside the blue line past a screened Shesterkin at 15:25 for a 4-2 lead.
Lafreniere’s power-play deflection 50 seconds into the third period cut the deficit to 4-3, and the Rangers got a power-play opportunity when Cole Sillinger was called for hooking at 3:03.
But they generated nothing, and after an exchange of penalties left the teams playing 4-on-4, Damon Severson got to the front of the net and banged in Sillinger’s rebound to make it 5-3.
“We didn’t really do enough in the third period to put ourselves in a position to come back,” Fox said.
New York generated little after that, and Fantilli hit the empty net with 2:54 remaining to end any suspense.
The Rangers head home and will have two days off before hosting the Winnipeg Jets for a Sunday matinee.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 6-3 to Blue Jackets
20 for Laf
Lafreniere’s post-Olympic surge continues. He reached the 20-goal mark for the second time in his six NHL seasons with an artful deflection on Fox’s shot. It came on just the kind of play coach Mike Sullivan has been pushing him to make — get to the front of the net and make life miserable for the goalie.
It’s Lafreniere’s second 20-goal season since the Rangers selected him No. 1 overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He has 10 goals in 14 games since Jan. 31. His career high is 27, set in 2023-24. The power-play goal was his sixth, one shy of his career total in his first five seasons.
“It’s not easy to score 20 goals in this league, and I’m happy for him,” Sullivan said. “It’s a good achievement. We’ve got to keep building on it.”
Lafreniere also picked up his 27th assist, two shy of his career best (29), also set in 2023-24. With 47 points, he’s 10 behind his career-high 57 in ’23-24.
Few things have gone right for the Rangers this season, but Lafreniere’s surge is one of them.
Zibanejad closes in on 30 goals
Aside from Lafreniere, his linemate, No. 93 is one of the few Rangers who can accurately say he’s having a good season. In fact, he’s on pace for his best season since 2022-23.
Zibanejad’s goal in Columbus was his team-leading 29th — nine more than last season. He hasn’t broken 30 since he scored 39 three seasons ago. His 66 points are already four more than last season, and he figures to pass his 2023-24 total of 72 before the end of March and could reach 80 for the third time in his career.
It’s a big turnaround for the 32-year-old center, who many fans felt was hitting the rocks after finishing with just 20 goals and 66 points last season.
About face
The Rangers looked like they might be putting things together when they won four games in six days last week, giving them a 6-1-2 record coming out of the Olympic break.
So much for that. Not only did the Rangers lose three games in four nights, they were outplayed in all three. Shesterkin’s brilliance enabled them to win 4-2 in Minnesota on Saturday despite being outshot 48-18, but neither he nor Jonathan Quick, who faced the Devils, could make up for their teammates’ failings this week.
Most teams would be happy to know that nine of their next 10 games are at home. But with a 9-17-6 record at Madison Square Garden, a home-heavy schedule for the next three weeks doesn’t look like anything to crow about.
On the other hand: The Rangers fell to 30th in the overall standings after the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Thursday. The lower theyfinish, the better the chance the Blueshirts have to win the NHL Draft Lottery and grab an impact talent.
