The New York Rangers delivered sweet revenge in front of a roaring sellout crowd of 18,464 at Nationwide Arena. Igor Shesterkin delivered a dominant performance to secure a 4-0 shutout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The win catapulted New York into the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, bumping Columbus out of playoff position.
For the Blue Jackets, this marked their second straight shutout loss and their third in just five games—a tough pill to swallow in an important part of the season.
Related: Blue Jackets Drop Out of Wild Card Spot With Shutout Loss to Rangers
New York struck early and didn’t look back. Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring, and former Blue Jacket Artemi Panarin added to it in the second period with his 29th goal of the season. Shesterkin handled the rest, making 21 saves in total. Meanwhile, Columbus’ goaltender, Daniil Tarasov, who made 18 saves, started in place of Elvis Merzlikins, who is currently on leave to be with his wife as they await the arrival of their second child. Vincent Trocheck poured salt in the wound in the third period with two more insurance goals for the Rangers, sealing the shutout win.
The Blue Jackets’ offensive struggles are glaring—they’ve now gone over 129 minutes without scoring a goal, an issue that couldn’t come at a worse time. With many teams pushing for the second wild card spot and separated by only four points, every missed opportunity stings. Columbus now sits at 31-27-8, trailing the Montreal Canadiens by one point in the standings (71) and falling further away from playoff contention. To make things worse, they’re now just two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings (68).
Rangers’ 1-3-1 Defensive Style Proved Too Much for the Blue Jackets
The Rangers’ 1-3-1 defensive strategy stumped the Blue Jackets on Saturday night, clogging passing lanes, disrupting zone entries, and forcing Columbus into turnovers all night long, a total of 22, most coming at the blue line. Time and again, the Blue Jackets struggled to break through the layers of the big Rangers’ defensemen, leading to dump-and-chasing with little sustained offensive zone possession.
For Columbus, this performance was painfully similar to Thursday night’s shutout loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. Once again, the Jackets couldn’t establish any kind of rhythm. In the third period, their struggles were most glaring, with just one shot on goal in the first nine minutes.
What really stood out wasn’t a lack of effort but the growing frustration. You could see it in the way Columbus played—a team pressing hard, desperate for a breakthrough that never came. They’ve now gone six straight periods without a goal, over 129 minutes of hockey, which is certainly weighing hard on this squad.
“Everybody’s talked about it before. Whenever teams are in a bit of a funk, you need something positive to happen. Which we’ll work (for). We’ve never not worked. It would be a different story if I came in here and said we got outworked tonight and that’s why we lost the game. We didn’t. We have to continue to work and believe there’s enough games left for us to get there,” said head coach Dean Evason
Key Blue Jackets Struggled
It was a tough night for several Blue Jackets players, and the struggles were evident across the lineup. Damon Severson had a particularly rough game on defense, finishing with a minus-3 rating. His night got off to a bad start when a costly turnover deep in the defensive zone led directly to the Rangers’ opening goal. That moment set the tone for the evening—a mix of mistakes and missed opportunities that Columbus couldn’t overcome.
Severson’s adjusted game score of minus-4.39 (via HockeyStatCards.com) was the lowest on the team, reflecting the defensive struggles of this team lately.
“It was just kind of a bit of a cluster of bad things that could happen there. So, yeah, bad bounce there,” said Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson
Boone Jenner, the captain, had his own difficulties too, ending the game with a minus-4 rating, failing to create much offensively.
The Rangers, on the other hand, knew exactly how to exploit Columbus’ mistakes. They got bodies in front of Daniil Tarasov, creating screens and making it nearly impossible for him to track the puck. Two of their goals came directly from traffic in front, showing just how effective that strategy was. Tarasov did what he could with 18 saves, but it’s hard to blame him entirely when the team in front of him struggled so much to hold their ground.
Something’s Gotta Give with the Power Play
The Blue Jackets’ power play has hit rock bottom, and this game against the Rangers made that crystal clear. Columbus had three chances with the man advantage but failed to convert, with no sign of improvement of late. While they managed a few decent looks early in the first period, their efforts repeatedly fell apart before they could even get set up in the offensive zone during their six minutes of man-advantage.
Credit should go to the Rangers’ penalty kill, though, as they didn’t give the Blue Jackets any breathing room. The Rangers were relentless when it came to blocking shots, blocking 17 in total, most coming on the penalty kill. Clogging the shooting lanes frustrated Columbus’ power-play efforts, making it nearly impossible to get clean shots through to the net. When the Blue Jackets did manage a shot, Igor Shesterkin was unbeatable in the net. His rebound control and ability to smother every puck made sure there were no second-chance opportunities on most shots.
At this level, you have to score to stay competitive. It’s that simple. The Jackets’ lack of execution is glaring, and they know it.
“Two games getting shut out. I mean you’re pointing at our top guys first. We gotta score. Even if we lose 1-0, we’re getting shutout. We gotta score. And it’s a point of emphasis right now. We gotta be better. Nothing else to say.”
The Blue Jackets are back in action Monday night at home against the New Jersey Devils, a team that beat them 5-3 earlier last week. This game will be a great opportunity to earn some revenge and regain momentum in this tight playoff race.
