The Rangers finally put together a strong start to a game, but it was the finish that was lacking this time.
Despite scoring two early goals, the Rangers allowed the Blue Jackets to waltz right back into the game before ultimately falling, 5-3, on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It was the final meeting of the regular season between the two teams.
Aside from being on the wrong end of a come-from-behind rally, the Rangers also lost Adam Fox early in the third period after the reigning Norris Trophy-winning defenseman awkwardly fell into the boards on a hit from Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.
The Blue Jackets scored four straight goals after the Rangers built a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes. Whether it was to make up for the 6-0 thrashing they received at the hands of the Flames on Wednesday or their will to avoid a third straight loss, Columbus played hungry and pounced on every Rangers mistake.
Max Domi found Sean Kuraly all alone in front of Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev to give the Blue Jackets their first lead of the night at 6:18 of the second period. A rare turnover from Fox then led to Boone Jenner’s second tally of the game for the 4-2 score.
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The power play gave the Rangers some life at 7:12 of the third period when Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer from the faceoff circle cut the deficit to a goal. Columbus’ Jake Bean gave the Blueshirts another prime opportunity after he took his second penalty of the period shortly after, but Columbus netminder Joonas Korpisalo robbed Julien Gauthier on the Rangers’ best chance on the man-advantage.
Kuraly’s second goal of the night with the Rangers’ net empty sealed the win for Columbus.
With Kaapo Kakko on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury and Filip Chytil still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Gerard Gallant has had an even more top-heavy lineup to work with than usual. The Rangers coach rode his top guys heavily, using the bottom six rather sparingly, particularly in the first period.
Alexis Lafreniere, who logged 12:20 in the loss, replaced Gauthier on the top line next to Zibanejad and Chris Kreider beginning in the middle frame.
The first period featured four goals scored in the span of just over six minutes, with the Rangers striking first before the Blue Jackets answered. By the 4:44 mark, the Rangers were up 2-0 off Artemi Panarin’s goal just under a minute and a half into the game and Barclay Goodrow’s skate redirection off Braden Schneider’s feed for his career-high ninth tally.
The Blue Jackets, however, needed less than three minutes to even the score — though the Rangers’ two penalties certainly helped speed their comeback along.
After winger Gustav Nyquist knocked one in with his skates, Goodrow was called for tripping shortly after to send Columbus on the power play. Jenner’s redirection at 7:28 knotted the game 2-2 and was the Blue Jackets’ first power-play goal in five games.