So, when the New York Rangers were looking for scoreboard help today, they were looking for a specific group of teams to lose. The Columbus Blue Jackets did not get this memo and responded by putting the Nashville Predators to the sword. That game finished 8-4, with the Blue Jackets thrashing the Predators to close the gap to the teams above them. It takes them tied on points with the Rangers and overtake the Blueshirts on points percentage.
It's a disappointing result for the Rangers, who needed the Blue Jackets to fall tonight, but they can't spend too much time worrying about it. The Blue Jackets have a brutal stretch coming up with Colorado and Toronto and a back-to-back with the Ottawa Senators. New York can look at their rivals from the Metropolitan to drop points in the coming weeks; this was always going to be a game that favored the Jackets.
While disappointing, this adds pressure to the Rangers for tomorrow night's game with Minnesota. We know the Rangers would have to force the win regardless, but they now know they must keep going. They know they have to take care of their results, and this doesn't change that. New York needs to keep the pressure up on the teams around them, and the best way to do that is to keep the points flowing.
New York still holds the regulation wins tiebreaker over Columbus, so they only need one loss from the Jackets to jump back over them. That will give them confidence that they will get results that will go their way. With the added boost of Gabe Perreault, the possible returns of Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom looming, and the return to the Garden coming, the Rangers know they have a fight on their hands to make the playoffs from here.