In a game in which the New York Rangers were in desperate need for points, the Blueshirts instead gave up seven goal on home ice at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A lack of execution paired with many defensive breakdowns caused the Rangers to give up six goals after being deadlocked in a 1-1 tie at the conclusion of the first period. All seven goals Columbus scored were at even-strength and prevented the Rangers from going into first place for the wild card race in the Eastern Conference. Blue Jacket Adam Fantilli led Columbus with a hat-trick.
Postgame, New York Rangers' Head Coach Peter Laviolette said the defensive breakdowns were the primary catalyst en route to the devastating loss.
"When it did break down, it was bad. There was guys right in front of [goaltender Jonathan Quick] with no support and no help. You go back and look at all the goals, one of them was off a skate, a guy falls in a corner, a broken stick come back on the two-on-two. But everything could have been done differently and done better, it needs to be better inside of that ... It came in different ways against us tonight. Whether it was getting beat, a coverage breakdown, a bad bounce, or someone falling — each goal happened for a different reason."Peter Laviolette
Though, Rangers Chris Kreider and defenseman Braden Schneider scored short-handed goals for the Blueshirts. This was the first time the Rangers had scored two short-handed goals while killing the same penatly for the first time since March of 2014.
New York did see a powerful moment despite the loss; with the longest-tenured Ranger Kreider and long-time close friend Mika Zibanejad pairing for a goal in the second period to tie things up, 3-3, with a display of beautiful passing.
This was beautiful and the fact that it was Kreider and Zibanejad makes it even better. https://t.co/V0mg3rtWbm
— Blue Line Station (@BlueLineStation) March 9, 2025
Zibanejad's two assists he tallied throughout the matchup give him points in eight of his last 10 games. Team-leader Artemi Panarin also extended his goal streak to five consecutive games, tying a career high according to the Rangers' PR Department.
Columbus scored twice late in the period on goals by Mathieu Olivier at 17:03 and Dante Fabbro at 18:47 to blunt New York’s momentum. Adding on to this was the fact that Quick did not perform at his best. He allowed seven goals on 27 shots.
However the fourth line for the Rangers did serve as a standout with Matt Rempe, Brennan Othmann and Jonny Brodzinski showing up for the Blueshirts; they each logged over 12 minutes of total ice time.
Playoff Hopes
"At the end of the day, it's not good enough. We gave up big chances right in front of our net, and that can't happen."Peter Laviolette
Unfortunately, the Rangers did a good deal of damage to their playoff hopes between this defeat and Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss against the Ottawa Senators. This meant the Blueshirts have earned one of a possible four points as of late.
New York is now still just two points behind the Blues Jackets for the first wild card and one in arrears of the Senators for the second wild card. But they’ve lost three straight games (0-1-2). Every game for the Rangers from now is truly a must win.