Recap: Rangers Win 4–0 Over Columbus, Vault Into Playoff Position

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the Rangers were in for one of the most important games of the season, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Looking for revenge after losing to them 7-3 just a week ago, the Rangers were fresh off an overtime win that snapped a four game losing streak, looking to build off of that success. They would do so with reinforcements as Adam Fox would rejoin the lineup after his stint on IR to help his team shutout the Jackets in a massive 4-0 win.

1st Period: 

After a brutal opening shift from the Trocheck line, a great forecheck from Mika Zibanejad forced the puck into the corner. Danill Tarasov went to play the puck but another strong effort from Zibanejad chipped it through the crease, allowing for Alexis Lafrenière to bury home the loose puck to break a 14 game goal drought. 1-0 Rangers within the first two minutes of play. 

Just three minutes later, the Rangers would head to the penalty kill as J.T. Miller was called for slashing Kent Johnson to give Columbus the game’s first man advantage. The Rangers did a good job of successfully killing it off and soon after returning to even strength, Igor Shesterkin checked in with a flashy glove save to help his team maintain the early lead. 

Approaching the midway point of the opening period, Tarasov picked up his first save of the game as up until that point, the Rangers only shot on goal was the Lafrenière goal. Sure the Rangers had a penalty to kill off in that stretch but still, not a great start offensively. One player that was off to a great start was Mika Zibanejad. Right from that initial shift that led to the goal, he was all over the ice, hungry on pucks even throwing the body around more noticeable than he has at any other point this season. 

It would become a relatively low even period as the Rangers’ first shot on goal stood as the only goal of a period they were out-shot 9-4. Despite the minimal activity, there was good pace to the game with the Rangers playing a harder game. Columbus led in high danger chances as well as expected goals for but the most noticeable stat line was the Blue Jackets being credited with nine turnovers to the Rangers zero. 

2nd Period:

The Rangers were dominating the Blue Jackets to start the second as they were keeping the puck in their end of the ice for extended shifts, playing aggressively and moving the puck well. Through seven minutes of play, they only allowed one shot on goal from Columbus but still only generated two of their own. 

Just under two minutes away from the midway point of the game, Columbus had their best chance of the night as Dmitri Voronkov ended up all alone right in the slot. Shesterkin read the move as best as he could but Voronkov had managed to beat the Rangers netminder. Luckily, the puck rang off the post to keep Columbus off the board and play moving. Soon after, the Rangers ended up back on the penalty kill as Zac Jones was called for holding. 

The Rangers continued to find success on the penalty kill and just as the teams returned to even strength, Zac Jones came in on a partial odd man rush with ARtemi Panarin. This was the beginning of a strong shift that ended with Panarin walking the puck into the slot and beating Tarasov with a clean shot to make it a 2-0 game. 

The goal not only came as Panarin’s 70th point of the season but his 15th career goal against one of his former teams and his 11th point in his last eight games. 

With three minutes to go in the period, Panarin was weaving his way around Columbus’ end of the ice and got tripped up by Kirill Marchenko to give the Rangers their first power play of the night. While they wouldn’t convert, the top unit had some really good looks with Adam Fox back in his usual role. Chris Kreider had a couple of really good chances net front, one of which was robbed by Tarasov with the glove on a rebound attempt. 

At the end of two, shots on goal were tied at 15 apiece as the Rangers were now leading the charge scoring chances both regular and high danger. Aside from a chance or two, the Rangers really controlled possession and dictated play across the middle period, putting themselves in good standing to close things out with another solid period of play. 

3rd Period:

The Blue Jackets began the third with a little more desperation to their play but the Rangers remained composed and continued to play a solid defensive game. Through ten minutes of play, the Jackets had the only two shots on goal of the period as the Rangers were really focusing on playing a tight, shutdown game.

With about five and a half to go, a great interception from Will Cuylle in the neutral zone led to another brilliant zone entry from Artemi Panarin. Panarin would look for the pass and find Vincent Trocheck who was skating hard to the net, where he was able to let a quick release go to extend the Rangers lead 3-0.

Of course it can never be easy as the Rangers took another penalty with four minutes remaining which gave Columbus their third power play of the night. With Braden Schneider to the penalty box, Daniel Tarasov headed to the bench as Columbus would try their luck with a 6-on-4. It would only take forty seconds for J.T. Miller to move it ahead to Trocheck to pick up his second of the night on the empty net.

Without question one of the best, most complete games the Rangers have played in quite some time. Urho Vaakanainen with Adam Fox and Zac Jones back with Schneider really helped balance the defense pairings more effectively which was encouraging to see after some struggles in that regard as of late. From top to bottom, this team played a great game and picked up two important points that move them ahead of Columbus for that final wildcard spot in the East.

The Rangers need to build off this win and continue to find success as the race isn't going to get any easier towards the end of the season. They're right back at it tomorrow night as they'll return home to host the Edmonton Oilers.