The Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers met for the first time this season Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers entered the game five points behind the Blue Jackets in the standings right in the thick of the wildcard race in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers did their part on Saturday. But the Blue Jackets got a huge point also.
The two teams played 65 minutes without a goal. Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal of the shootout to lift the Rangers to a 1-0 win over the Blue Jackets. Both goalies Igor Shesterkin and Daniil Tarasov got credit for a shutout since the game went 0-0 after overtime. The shutout for Tarasov was his first career in the NHL.
However, Saturday night belonged to Shesterkin.
Game Recap
The whole night saw very little time and space for both teams. In the first, the Blue Jackets had the upper hand in chances and shots. They outshot the Rangers 15-4 in the first period.
Although the Rangers were limited, they did hit two posts in the first period. They have played much better of late since the trades of both Jacob Trouba to Anaheim and Kaapo Kakko to Seattle.
The Rangers were the better team in the second although much like the first, the team defense on both sides was strong. Shots were 12-5 Rangers in the middle frame.
The third was even more tight checking. The Blue Jackets couldn’t take advantage of a Mika Zibanejad penalty midway through the period. Both teams were more than willing to take home at least one point.
Overtime is where things got wild. Zibanejad had two breakaways in overtime only to have Tarasov shut both of them down. On the other end, Zach Werenski had a chance that beat Shesterkin but didn’t beat the post.
It would take a shootout to decide this one. In Round 2, Trocheck beat Tarasov to the far side. Shesterkin was able to stop Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko to shut the door on the Blue Jackets’ six-game winning streak. It is now a seven-game points streak (6-0-1.) The seven-game streak is the longest for the team in four years.
Shesterkin made 27 saves on the night for his 17th career shutout. He passed John Vanbiesbrouck for ninth-place on the all time Rangers shutout list. Tarasov made 26 saves. This was the kind of game you’d expect from two division rivals who are right in the thick of the playoff race.
The Blue Jackets will now continue their New York swing and play the Islanders on Monday night on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Rangers have to travel to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Sunday in a back-to-back situation.