Consecutive games against the teams directly in front of them in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Consecutive losses lowlighted by stunning breakdowns. One point gained when four were needed.

So much for big brother teaching their little siblings a thing or two at crunch time this weekend. The Senators and Blue Jackets flipped the script on the Rangers.

When push came to shove Saturday with a two-goal lead and 10 minutes to play, the Rangers stumbled badly. Ditto for Sunday, when two short-handed goals in 42 seconds on the same PK to tie the game 3-3 just preceded more stumbles and another wasted opportunity to grab ahold of the playoff race.

There are 18 games to play. This race is far from over, though now the two teams in front of the Rangers have games in hand. But the Rangers are right there. It’s just that this was a statement weekend.

And the statement the Rangers made was not an impressive one.

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New York Rangers news

Here’s a list breakdown of the winners and losers from the Rangers loss Sunday to the Blue Jackets.

And here are three Rangers takeaways from the latest defeat, including a comparison between Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fantilli.

How did the Rangers react to the brutal loss Sunday? “This one sucks” was a massive understatement.

NHL news and rumors

Utah goalie Connor Ingram is seeking help from NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and stepped away from the team for an indefinite period citing issues coping with his mother’s death from breast cancer.

Jonathan Toews told The Athletic that he didn’t like how his career with the Chicago Blackhawks ended so is working toward an NHL return next season.

Pierre LeBrun reported that nine teams were in on Mikko Rantanen ahead of the trade deadline before he was dealt to the Dallas Stars by the Carolina Hurricanes. No, the Rangers were not one of those teams.

Despite seeking Mitch Marner’s permission to be included in a trade proposal to land Rantanen, the Toronto Maple Leafs reportedly are eager to sign the pending UFA to a new contract and keep him in Toronto.

Star forward Roope Hintz is day to day with an upper-body injury after taking a puck to the face over the weekend. He didn’t play against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Mikael Granlund scored for the Stars in their 4-1 win over the Canucks.

Cody Glass scored in his Devils debut, a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Newcomers Mark Jankowski and Logan Stankoevn combined for three goals to lead the Hurricanes past the Winnipeg Jets 4-2.

The Los Angeles Kings held on for a wild 6-5 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, who received a hat trick from Tomas Hertl.

With a chance to show the upstart Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets who’s the team to beat in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Rangers lost in a stunning fashion to each this weekend.

After blowing a pair of two-goal leads, including a 3-1 advantage midway through the third period, in a 4-3 overtime loss at the Senators on Saturday, the Rangers collapsed on home ice, losing to the Blue Jackets 7-3 on Sunday.

Instead of sitting in the first wild card in the East on Monday morning, the Rangers remain ninth in the conference, securing one of a possible four points in a crucial weekend back-to-back against the teams now directly ahead of them in the standings.

Remember, the Rangers are supposed to know how to win big games with playoff implications. After all, this core has helped the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Final in two of the past three seasons. The Senators? No playoff appearances in the past seven seasons. The Blue Jackets? Been four years on the outside looking in.

Well, the Rangers didn’t look like the more veteran composed team against either opponent this weekend. Blowing those leads in Ottawa and somehow losing the next night even after tying the game with two short-handed goals 42 seconds apart on the same penalty kill early in the second period.

Sam Rosen’s calls of back-to-back @NYRangers shorthanded goals scored on the same penalty kill are absolutely electric ⚡️ 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/BxQnOwerof

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 9, 2025

How did the Rangers react to that stunning momentum swing in their favor? They didn’t score the rest of the game and allowed the Blue Jackets to pull away with four even-strength goals.

There are 18 games to play and it’s still there in front of the Rangers, the chance to secure a playoff berth for the fourth straight season. But they simply do not make it easy on themselves, do they?

Related: Winners, losers from stunning loss to Blue Jackets

Three takeaways from Rangers brutal home-ice loss to Blue Jackets

Here are three takeaways from the Rangers 7-3 loss to the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

1. Not-so-even strength

The Rangers were mauled at even strength Sunday, outscored by a whopping 7-1. It’s crazy to say, but the Rangers were more structured and disciplined and effective defending short-handed on the penalty kill than at even strength. It’s like the 3 Stooges spinning around, running into one another in their defensive zone 5v5.

Losing puck battles, losing men in prime scoring position, inability to clear the zone, beaten consistently one on one, slow to defend, reactive not proactive. You name it. The Rangers were a mess, especially in the second period, out-chanced 12-5 (6-2 high danger) 5v5 and with an xGF of 28.9 percent, per Natural Stat Trick.

Thought it was completely out of their system after that putrid 4-15-0 stretch in November and December? Think again.

2. More penalties please

It’s like the Rangers are a different team when on the penalty kill. Certainly that was the case Sunday. They scored one even-strength goal and were 0-for-4 on the power play. But short-handed? The Rangers dominated the Blue Jackets there. The Rangers scored twice short-handed and stole momentum in the game, tying the score 3-3 at the time of their two shorties.

The problem? The Rangers didn’t take any more penalties, so they weren’t short-handed any more. Their third-ranked penalty kill — a unit that leads the League in short-handed goals with 13 — appeared to be the Rangers only chance Sunday. The Blue Jackets looked overwhelmed by the Rangers PK, whereas the visitors played with confidence and swagger at even strength.

3. Your guy, my guy

It’s not a completely fair apples to apples comparison, but would you keep your guy or take their guy? Would you keep Alexis Lafreniere, the 23-year-old Rangers forward who was the No. 1 overall pick in 2020? Or take Adam Fantilli, the 20-year-old Blue Jackets center who was selected third overall in 2023?

It may seem like a set-up considering Fantilli notched a hat trick Sunday, including two goals 26 seconds apart early in the second period. Engaged, skilled and smart, Fantill found different ways to burn the Rangers, and now has 21 goals in his sophomore NHL season.

Lafreniere picked up an assist Sunday, when his first-period shot that was going wide of the net was redirected home by Artemi Panarin. Other than that? Pretty invisible. Again. He has four assists in the past five games as Panarin is on a scoring tear now. However, Lafreniere is generating little offensively, and in fact has five shots on goal in his past seven games. Five. He hasn’t scored a goal since Feb. 2 against Vegas, a span of 12 games. Five seasons into his NHL career, he’s still an enigma, even playing on a line with Panarin, Lafreniere sits with 14 goals and 36 points this season; and has had really one signature season (28 goals, 57 points last season).

Right now, Fantilli or Lafreniere? Without even factoring in the contract difference. You choose.

Let that sink in for a second.

Then mix in that those short-handed goals tied the game 3-3 early in the second period against the team directly ahead of them in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. It was right there for the Rangers. Instead, they allowed four unanswered goals at even strength, with Adam Fantilli finishing off a hat trick for the Blue Jackets.

To make matters worse, this brought a sour finish to a highly-anticipated — yet ultimately disappointing — weekend against teams ahead of them in the playoff race. The Rangers blew a pair of two-goal leads Saturday, including one in the third period, before losing to the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in overtime.

The Rangers (31-27-6) have now lost three in a row (0-1-2) and remain ninth in the East. They are two points behind the Blue Jackets (31-24-8) for the first wild card; the Blue Jackets have a game in hand, and the teams will play again Saturday in Columbus. The Rangers trail the Senators (32-25-5) by one point for the second wild card but have played two more games.

Though strong on the PK, the Rangers were outscored 7-1 at even strength Sunday and were 0-for-4 on the power play. Jonathan Quick didn’t get much help from his teammates and stopped just 21 of 28 shots. It was the second time the Rangers allowed seven goals in a game this season.

Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider scored the shorties, the first time the Rangers scored twice on the same PK since March 5, 2014, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Artemi Panarin also scored, extending his goal streak to five games, tying his career high.

Fantilli recorded the second hat trick of his young career and Mathieu Olivier scored twice for the Blue Jackets, who had lost their previous two games and are 1-1-1 against the Rangers this season. Dante Fabbro had a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski continued his splendid season with two more assists, giving him 68 points in 62 games. Justin Danforth also scored for Columbus and Daniil Tarasov finished with 32 saves, 17 in the third period.

Related: Carson Soucy makes immediate impact in Rangers debut against Senators

Columbus Blue Jackets 7 – New York Rangers 3

Following a fairly low-event first period, a dizzying sequence of momentum swings in a wild second period found the Rangers trying to dig out of a 5-3 hole after 40 minutes of play.

Despite allowing the first goal of the game at 5:56 of the first period, when Danforth tapped in a sweet pass by Werenski after the Blue Jackets star danced around Rangers defenseman Carson Soucy, the Rangers had the edge in play. They outshot the Blue Jackets 9-4, out-chanced them 10-3 in all situations (per Natural Stat Trick) and scored the tying goal with 28.1 seconds remaining in the period.

After the fourth line forced an icing call against the Blue Jackets, the top line went to work on the next face-off with less than a minute to play in the period. Vincent Trocheck sent the puck back to Alexis Lafreniere, who in turn fired ahead, with his shot seemingly headed wide of the net. But Panarin, stationed in the left circle, stuck out his stick and redirected the puck past Tarasov for his 28th goal of the season, tying the score 1-1.

LAF WITH THE SHOT + BREAD TIPS IT IN. pic.twitter.com/myJ9KLkNSH

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 9, 2025

The Blue Jackets took a penalty seven seconds later, and momentum was all on the Rangers side. Their second power play of the game carried into the second period, but they couldn’t tack on another goal after Panarin’s tally.

That led to the next momentum swing in the game. Fantilli scored twice in a span of 26 seconds to silence the Garden crowd and give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead. The 20-year-old went top shelf over Quick’s glove on a 2-on-2 rush at 3:07, shortly after the teams returned to even strength. Then he slammed home a Dmitri Voronkov pass from behind the goal line for his 20th goal of the season at 3:33.

It was another example of the Blue Jackets winning a puck battle in the offensive zone at even strength, something they did over and over on Sunday. Schneider was the defenseman in this instance who lost the puck battle and the Rangers found themselves down 3-1.

Less than two minutes later it was nearly 4-1, but Rangers defenseman Will Borgan made a sensational arm save lying in the blue paint with Quick out of the play.

At 6:13, Will Cuylle was assessed a holding minor, and what followed was a stunning swing in momentum in the home team’s favor. The Blue Jackets fell asleep on the power play and left Schneider wide open after turning the puck over in their own end. Schneider wired a short-handed goal past the glove of Tarasov at 6:54 after a quick feed from Trocheck.

SHORTHANDED SCHNEIDS. pic.twitter.com/i59VFbzpkI

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 9, 2025

Schneider’s fourth goal of the season and first in 16 games put the juice back in the building. Just 42 seconds later, Kreider helped blow thew roof off the Garden when he scored his fourth shortie of the season to tie things up 3-3 at 7:36.

Kreider started the play with a takeaway at the Rangers blue line. That sent him and Mika Zibanejad off on a 2-on-0 short-handed rush. The Rangers forwards played catch with the puck skating in on Tarasov before one last pass from Zibanejad was buried into the back of the net by Kreider, his 18th goal being New York’s League-leading 13th short-handed this season.

Chris Kreider tucks home Zibanejad's return feed for another Rangers shorthanded goal, tie game!#NYR pic.twitter.com/GFImmW0rD1

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 9, 2025

The Blue Jackets managed not to allow another shortie before their power play ended, then resumed their strong play 5v5 and shifted momentum back in their favor. Werenski made another gorgeous feed to set up Olivier’s go-ahead goal at 17:03. Alone in the middle, he redirected Werenski’s pass into the cage for his 13th goal to make it 4-3.

Columbus won another race to a loose puck behind the Rangers’ goal line and that paid off with another goal at 18:47. James van Riemsdyk passed to Sean Kuraly, who found Fabbro open between the circles. The defenseman zipped his fifth goal stick side past Quick to make it 5-3.

The Rangers nearly answered with 25 seconds to play in the period, but Panarin’s quick one-timer was denied by Tarasov.

Down by two, the Rangers started fast in the third period and had a crucial power play at 5:57 when Ivan Provorov was called for delay of game when he flipped the puck over the glass. The Rangers pressed and had two good scoring chances — one each for Zibanejad and Panarin — but Tarasov was up to the challenge. After the power play, the Rangers fourth line buzzed and Jonny Brodzinski had a pair of good looks. But to no avail.

Olivier then the backbreaker when he went hard to the net and the puck bounced up high off a Rangers defenseman and into the net at 10:17 to make it 6-3.

Fantilli was left all alone in the slot to bury his third goal of the game and finish off the hat trick at 11:51 after a hard-working shift in the Rangers’ zone.

The Rangers got another power play at 12:41 after Luke Kunin boarded Trocheck for the initial penalty. Borgen then jumped in to fight Kunin and when was all said and done, the Rangers had a power play even though Borgen received an instigator penalty for starting the fight.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette pulled Quick to make it a 6-on-4 power play but they couldn’t score despite some prime chances.

All that was left was the booing from the fans who remained until the bitter end.

Next up for the Rangers is a three-game road trip that begins against the League-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.