Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: 3 things to watch for in pivotal game for playoff positioning
For a team attempting to earn a playoff spot, every game is pivotal and more so when facing some of the direct competitors.
It is the scenario the New York Rangers face twice over the next seven days against the same team, starting with a visit from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden followed by a visit to Columbus next Saturday.
The Rangers (31-26-6, 68 points) enter their final 19 games tied with the Blue Jackets in points. Since the Blue Jackets (30-24-8, 68 points) have a game in hand, they are the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and the Rangers are percentage points behind them.
Their 29 regulation wins are seven more than the Blue Jackets but the Rangers left points on the table in each of the previous two games. They blew a 2-1 third period lead at home to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday and a pair of two-goal leads in a 4-3 overtime loss the Ottawa Senators on the road Saturday.
After allowing Alex Ovechkin’s tying power-play goal in the third period and Tom Wilson’s winner in OT on Wednesday, the Rangers experienced an even worse collapse in Ottawa. Artemi Panarin scored for the fourth straight game with 12:52 remaining in regulation to make it 3-1 but the Rangers coughed up two goals off net-front scrambles within a span of 6:52 and then lost at 33 seconds of overtime following an egregious K’Andre Miller turnover that led to Brady Tkachuk’s game winner.
What made that loss even worse is that the Senators are a team right in front of the Rangers in the East standings, like the Blue Jackets. It was a crucial playoff-like game. And they blew it.
So far this season, the Rangers have snagged all four points against the Blues Jackets, winning a pair of one-goal games. The Rangers earned a 1-0 home win over the Blue Jackets on Jan. 18 when Vincent Trocheck scored the lone goal in the shootout. On Feb, 8, the Rangers rallied in the third period for a 4-3 victory in Columbus on goals by Urho Vaakanainen and Will Cuylle.
Columbus had a six-game winning streak stopped in the first meeting and are 8-7-2 over its past 17 contests. The Blue Jackets won four straight, culminating in their 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the Stadium Series on March 1 but were outscored 9-2 in road losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers in their following two games.
The Blue Jackets are well-rested since that 3-0 loss at Florida on Thursday, when they mustered a season-low 16 shots on goal.
Despite two sub-par showings, the Blue Jackets have scored 203 goals, the second most of any Metropolitan Division team and ninth most in the entire League. Zach Werenski’s 66 points are second among NHL defensemen behind Cale Makar, and Kiril Marchenko has scored six of his 24 goals in his past 11 games.
Both teams may get an opportunity to inch closer to the New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan. The third-place Devils are four points ahead and host the Philadelphia Flyers in an early afternoon game.
Related: Winners, losers from Rangers brutal 4-3 OT loss to Senators
3 things to watch for when Rangers host Blue Jackets
1. Finish the job
The Rangers are 22-1-4 when leading after two periods but the last two outcomes could be the kind of losses they regret if they miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021. On Saturday, the Rangers were outshot 14-5 in the third period and registered two shots on goal after Panarin scored with 12:52 remaining. Their only shots on goal after Panarin’s goal were by Matt Rempe and Vaakanainen as Ottawa dominated the final portion of the game and the Rangers top players were completely shut down.
A similar problem appeared Wednesday when the Rangers were outshot 8-3 in the third period and mustered six shots on goal after Sam Carrick scored in the second to give them a 2-1 lead.
In the past two games, the Rangers have been outshot overall 63-40. They also missed the net 41 times in those games. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers were out-attempted 21 on high-danger chances in all game situations Saturday.
2. Keep Panarin rolling
Panarin is on his best roll of the season with goals in four straight games. It is his longest streak since scoring in four straight games Dec. 23-30, 2023.
If he scores on Sunday, it will be the second time Panarin found the back of the net in five straight games. He scored seven goals in a five-game span Dec. 8-16, 2019.
Panarin’s streak is following a stretch when he did not score in six consecutive contests Feb. 7-28.
Overall the Rangers are 14-3-3 when Panarin scores and 11-3-3 when he registers a multi-point game.
3. Carson Soucy’s home debut
After Carson Soucy was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in a trade Thursday, the big physical defenseman had himself a solid Rangers debut in Ottawa on Saturday.
Soucy was paired with Zac Jones and scored on a fortuitous bounce with his first Rangers shot in the first period after taking a pass from Panarin. The 30-year-old is among 26 players to score at least one goal for the Rangers this season, the most in the NHL.
Soucy will be the third player to make his home debut in a week after playing 15:39 in Ottawa. Last week, Calvin de Haan and Juuso Parssinen debuted in a 4-0 win over the Nashville Predators after being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – J.T. Miller- Zibanejad
Kreider – Carrick –Parssinen
Othmann – Brodzinski – Rempe
K. Miller – Borgen
Vaakanaien – Schneider
Soucy – Jones
Quick
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Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. New York Rangers
When: Sunday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
More About:New York Rangers News