Heading into the night, the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers were tied for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Jackets’ 7-3 win in Madison Square Garden Sunday is their only win in the last five games, and they absolutely needed to right the ship, tonight. Let’s see how they did.
First Period
Under two minutes in, and the Jackets are already in the hole. Mika Zibanejad caused a turnover thanks to aggressive forechecking on Damon Severson, Daniil Tarasov went for an ill-advised pokecheck in the corner, and Zibaneja was able to get it to Alexis Lafreniere, who had a wide-open net. Welp.
RANGERS GOAL – Alexis Lafreniere from Mika Zibanejad – 1:43 1st Period
The rest of the period was fine, I guess. The Rangers were content to let the Jackets come in down the wings, clog up the middle, and generate turnovers along the boards. JT Miller went off for slashing, and it was more of the same. The only notable chances were the one time Zach Werenski cut to the middle (Igor Shesterkin glove save), and a quasi-two-on-one that turned into a netfront scramble (Rangers clear). Jackets led in shots 9-4, but only because the Rangers wanted them to.
Second Period
I don’t want to come off as canning it in here, but there really isn’t much to discuss. The majority of the play was in the Rangers half of the ice, but they were doing such a good job of blocking passes and generating turnovers that, with few exceptions, it never really felt like the Jackets were a scoring threat. The Jackets’ first shot on goal this period was 6:47 in, and the Rangers only had two before that.
Denton Mateychuk took a massive hit five minutes in, which went unnoticed by pretty everyone on-ice and in the booth. At the halfway point, Dmitri Voronkov got alone in front, pulled a beautiful deke on Shesterkin, but somehow hit the far post.
Right after, Boone Jenner was able to draw a penalty cutting to the middle of the ice. The first unit was decent; the second unit was real bad. And immediately after, the Rangers got a cycle going, Artemi Panarin cur through the top of the circle to the slot, and beat Tarasov blocker side.
RANGERS GOAL – Artemi Panarin from Alexis Lafreniere and Will Borgen – 11:36 2nd Period
The KJ-Jenner-Chinakhov line had a great shift with about five minutes to go, but were again mostly limited to circling around the perimeter. Kirill Marchenko got nabbed for tripping, and the Jackets killed the penalty to end the period. Stick taps to Tarasov, who had some excellent sprawling saves on the kill.
Third Period
Essentially a formality. Rangers clog the middle, Rangers clear the zone, Jackets regroup, rinse, repeat. Very effective for New York. Very boring to watch. There was one shot on goal between both teams in the first nine minutes of the period.
The Russia-trotter line of Marchenko, Voronkov, and Yegor Chinakhov was briefly reunited late. This resulted in a KJ-Fantilli-Jenner third line that immediately got scored on. Severson again caught flat footed here.
RANGERS GOAL – Vincent Trocheck from Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle – 14:38 3rd Period
The Jackets got a powerplay late (the second tripping call Marchenko drew this game) and pulled the goalie for the extra attacker. Worked for about 40 seconds.
RANGERS SHORTHANDED EMPTY NET GOAL – Vincent Trocheck (2) from JT Miller and Adam Fox – 16:41 3rd Period
Despite some more perimeter pressure, Igor Shesterkin kept his shutout alive. Credit to the Rangers for coming in with a gameplan and executing flawlessly.
Home scoring has been the strength of this team this whole season, and it’s completely disappeared. 120 minutes and counting, 18 days since the last one in Nationwide Arena. Sean Monahan and Cole Sillinger can’t come back soon enough.
If you had told me on October 7th, the eve of the regular season, that the Columbus Blue Jackets would be in a playoff spot on March 14th, I’d have been ecstatic. This is still a special team, and a special season, with a bright future ahead regardless of how these last 15 games go. It doesn’t feel that way right now, but I’m trying to remember that.