The Columbus Blue Jackets, fresh off a loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon, made the trip to Madison Square Garden to take on the red-hot New York Rangers.
The Jackets made one lineup change, putting Jake Bean in for Andrew Peeke. Here’s how the team lined up.
Elvis Merzlikins got the start in net opposite Jonathan Quick. Here’s what happened.
First Period
The Jackets opened the game brightly, led by Adam Fantilli’s line. The Jackets had a few chances in transition, including ones for Voronkov and Sillinger, but were unable to capitalize. Still, it was nice to see the skates moving early.
At 13:45 of the first, Jacob Trouba laid a heavy hit on Kirill Marchenko in the neutral zone. Adam Fantilli, to his credit, stood up to Trouba to protest. Great on the rookie protecting his teammates. The Jackets earned a power play as Trouba was boxed for roughing.
The Rangers killed the penalty, but shortly after it ended, the Jackets got on the board anyway. The fourth line kept a decently-long shift in the offensive zone before a shot from Erik Gudbranson was deflected by Justin Danforth past Quick and into the net for the opener.
Columbus goal (1-0): Danforth from Gudbranson and Werenski, 16:26
In the dying minutes of the first, the Rangers pulled one back. Kreider took a pass on a rush in the right circle and ripped a shot past Elvis to tie the game at one apiece.
New York goal (1-1): Kreider from Gustafson and Wheeler, 18:46
The first period ended with game knotted 1-1.
Second Period
The second period opened with Dmitry Voronkov absolutely blasting Jacob Trouba, likely in response to the Marchenko hit in the first. With 4:51 gone, Sean Kuraly and Vincent Trochek went off for offsetting minors, setting up 4 on 4 hockey for two minutes. Justin Danforth had an excellent chance for his second but was denied by the blocker of Quick. The Rangers earned their first power play of the nigh midway through the second as Voronkov went off for tripping Trocheck.
The Rangers, much like the Jackets in the first, scored shortly after the power play expired. Trocheck found Alexis Lafreniere – Merzlikins got a piece of it, but not enough to keep it out.
New York goal (1-2): Lafreniere from Trocheck and Panarin, 11:17
Much like the Rangers in the first, the Jackets responded quickly, and this time it was Adam Fantilli. Fantilli, with a sharp angle shot from the low right circle, ripped his shot past Quick and equalized for Columbus.
Columbus goal (2-2): Fantilli from Voronkov, 12:35
The Jackets pounced immediately to retake the lead – a good shift from the fourth line saw Alexandre Texier’s shot saved, but Sean Kuraly jumped on the rebound and pushed it past Quick for a 3-2 lead.
Columbus goal (3-2): Kuraly from Texier and Gudbranson, 12:54
Late in the second, the Rangers threw the puck on net – Elvis trapped the puck against the post, but the Rangers argued it crossed the goal line. Elvis was not tight against his post, allowing the puck a chance to sneak through. The referees, after an interminable review, declared the play had been frozen and there was no goal.
After 40 minutes, the Jackets led 3-2.
Third Period
Seconds into the third, Sean Kuraly crushed Charlie Lindgren – Nick Bonino took offense and Kuraly/Bonino went to the box while Lindgren went to the locker room for maintenance. Kuraly was assessed a five minute major for boarding and after review it was reduced to a two minute minor for boarding and two minutes for roughing – the Rangers got a power play at 1:30 of the third. While on the kill, Justin Danforth caught Artemi Panarin with a high stick to give the Rangers 1:09 of a 5 on 3. The Jackets PK, easily their best unit this season, stepped up in a major way to kill the 5 on 3 and get it back to even strength without allowing a goal.
Just after the kill, Johnny Gaudreau found Roslovic in front of the Rangers goal, but Quick was able to make the save.
Through the first half of the third, the Jackets managed to stave off a tremendous New York push, but found themselves needing to see the game out. Through the first half of the period, shots favored the Rangers 12-1.
The Rangers pulled Jonathan Quick with 2:01 to go for an extra skater, and then took a timeout with 59 seconds to go looking for the game tying goal. The Rangers were rewarded late as Alex Lafreniere tied it – the Jackets were miserable defensively in the dying minutes, unable to win a faceoff or clear the puck, and their struggles set up Lafreniere’s second of the night. Kuraly with the faceoff loss late.
New York goal (3-3): Lafreniere from Kreider and Panarin, 19:49
Bonus Hockey
Overtime involved the teams trading chances, but neither team was able to find the winner. As a result, the Jackets went to the shootout for the first time this season.
In the skills competition, Lafreniere was the only one to score, and the Rangers stole a game the Jackets had locked up until late.
Final
Columbus Blue Jackets 3 New York Rangers 4 (SO)
Final Thoughts
The NHL has to fix replay review. Replay review was designed to fix “clear and obvious” errors. If you can’t figure out if the puck crossed the goal line in three minutes, call it no goal and get back to playing. No one needs the NHL going pixel by pixel to determine a goal or not. Make a decision and let’s all move on with our lives. Colorado got a 5th down to beat Mizzou once, missing a goal in a November hockey game because you didn’t have 4K footage isn’t the end of the world.
On his first night this season uncoupled from Boone Jenner, Johnny Gaudreau’s line led the Jackets in xGF% and he was the team’s individual xGF% leader. Pairing him with Boone Jenner actively harms Gaudreau because, per NHL Edge, Jenner is a bottom third of the NHL skater (hat tip fellow writer Dale). Gaudreau thrives on puck movement, skating, and transition – none of those things are a part of Boone Jenner’s game. This team needs to quit pretending Jenner is an answer at center, let alone a center capable of playing with guys like Gaudreau, Laine, Roslovic, etc. He’s a bottom six winger on a serious team. Start acting like it. Fans and high end players deserve better than dragging Jenner all over the ice.
The Jackets have allowed five 6v5 goals this year. They continually run out Kuraly and Jenner in defensive zone situations late despite ample evidence they actually aren’t good in those situations. Would it kill this team to just … not do that? Apparently, because it’s been a problem all season and they’re still doing it anyway. Elvis deserved better on this night and his skaters let him down late because they couldn’t win a faceoff or clear the puck for two solid minutes to end regulation.
This is a heartbreaker – the Jackets played well enough to win, conceded late, and lost in the shootout. The team that started so poorly last season was 5-9-1 through 15 games. After tonight, they are 4-7-4 with 12 points in a season where ownership has served Jarmo notice. We may be in the last days of the Jarmo administration, something to watch this year. The Jackets are now bottom of the Eastern Conference with a -12 goal differential and 26th in the league overall.
Up Next
The Columbus Blue Jackets return home on Tuesday night as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET.