Key takeaways after Rangers edge Blue Jackets 2-1 in shootout
The best road team in the NHL continued its winning ways Saturday night, when the New York Rangers edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in a shootout at Nationwide Arena. The Rangers are a League-best 9-1-1 on the road, and won their sixth straight away from Madison Square Garden.
J.T. Miller scored the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, roofing a shot under the crossbar to beat Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves. The winning shot came after Kirill Marchenko evened the shootout 1-1 with a goal against Igor Shesterkin in the top of the third round.
Shesterkin and Greaves were outstanding in this first clash between the Metropolitan Division rivals this season. Shesterkin finished with 23 saves, including a clutch one on a first-period penalty shot. Greaves, making his season-high fourth straight start, had 31 saves, including one in the five-minute overtime period.
Mika Zibanejad scored his sixth goal for the Rangers (10-7-2), who won their third straight game overall and host the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday at MSG.
“I thought we played a complete game all night long,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said postgame. “I thought 5-on-5 it was a really solid effort.”
Dmitri Voronkov scored the only goal for the Blue Jackets, and Kirill Marchenko extended his point streak to 11 games with an assist.
The Rangers started slowly in, what turned out to be, a scoreless first period. But after surrendering the first three shots of the game, they outshot the Blue Jackets 10-1 the remainder of the first period. However, that fourth Columbus shot was a penalty shot, the first called against New York this season.
Blue Jackets forward Miles Wood slipped behind Rangers defenders, was hooked from behind by Taylor Raddysh, and crashed shoulder first into the post without getting his shot off. The officials didn’t hesitate to call a penalty shot at 16:19. But Shesterkin calmly turned aside Wood’s penalty shot attempt to keep the game scoreless.
The Rangers opened the scoring 5:42 into the second period, when Zibanejad potted a power-play goal on his own rebound in tight. Artemi Panarin, who had the primary assist on the goal, nearly scored one himself four minutes later, but Greaves made an outstanding glove save on the left-circle snap shot.
Midway through the period, Shesterkin traded big-time saves with Graves during a 4-on-4 sequence. Shesterkin robbed Sean Monahan in close before Greaves denied Panarin again, after the Rangers winger created a good chance despite a Columbus defenseman draped all over him.
The Blue Jackets pulled even at 15:20 of the second period, when Voronkov used his long reach to get his stick around Rangers defenseman Matthew Robertson and slide a loose puck past Shesterkin from the low slot.
Adam Fox nearly won it for the Rangers in overtime, but his point-blank backhand try off a broken play in the slot was denied by Greaves. Columbus’ best chance in OT came right before the buzzer, when Marchenko had an open look, but the puck hopped over his stick.
Vincent Trocheck scored in the second round of the shootout for the Rangers, after Panarin was stopped by Greaves in the first round. Kent Johnson opened up the shootout for the Blue Jackets by shooting wide of the net to Shesterkin’s glove side. Shesterkin then used that glove to stop Adam Fantilli in Round 2, before the Rangers grabbed the second point on Miller’s winner in the third round.
Key takeaways after Rangers defeat Blue Jackets 2-1 in shootout
1. Unbeatble Igor
There’s something about Shesterkin and penalty shots. The Rangers goalie is now a perfect 7-for-7 on penalty shots in his career. He was so calm and patient on the latest one, giving Wood nothing to shoot at, snuffing the chance easily.
It can be argued that Wood was his own worst enemy. Know for his blazing speed, Wood instead skated slowly toward Shesterkin, failing to use his prime asset. Shesterkin held his ground and had zero issues turning aside the shot. It was a big moment in the game, since it was scoreless, late in the first period, and with the Rangers outplaying the Blue Jackets to that point.
Shesterkin didn’t face a penalty shot last season, after stopping all three in 2023-24. In his career, he’s denied Joel Farabee (Flyers), Frederick Gaudreau (Wild), Jack Hughes (Devils), Jason Zucker (Coyotes), Mathew Barzal (Islanders), Adam Pelech (Islanders), and now Wood.
As a team, the Rangers have stopped their past nine penalty shots against. The last penalty shot goal against the Blueshirts was April 3, 2018, when Taylor Hall (Devils) scored against Henrik Lundqvist.
2. Sam Carrick ‘tough as nails’ again
On the shift after the Blue Jackets tied the game in the second period, the home team had extra energy and started to throw the body. It didn’t take long for Sam Carrick to answer the bell for the Rangers. The veteran center dropped the gloves to fight Mathieu Olivier, one of the toughest fighters in the League, the same guy who’s gone toe-to-toe with Matt Rempe among other NHL heavyweights.
“I’ve fought him a couple times. He’s an honest player,” Carrick said about Olivier. “It’s part of the game, he’s trying to get his team going and we have to match that.”
It was a serious give and take, with Carrick holding the upper hand until Olivier dropped him with a stiff right, and the officials jumped in to end the fight. Carrick fired up the Rangers bench with his third fight of the season, and earned plenty of praise after the win.
“Sam’s tough as nails. He’s brave … and commands so much respect,” Sullivan said.
3. Filling in for Will
Will Borgen missed his first game since being acquired by the Rangers in a trade with the Seattle Kraken last December, and his first since the 2021-22 season, a span of 285 games. Though he took part in warmups, Borgen was scratched with a lower-body injury.
Braden Schneider moved up to take his place on the second defense pair with Carson Soucy. It was a pretty seamless move, with Schneider registering six hits and six shot attempts, playing just under 20 minutes TOI.
Robertson drew into the lineup with Borgen out, and had a bit of an up and down time of it defensively. The rookie did a ring a right-point shot off the near post 90 seconds into the middle period, however.
