The New York Rangers received a big-time reality check as they lost 7-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.
Going into this game, the Rangers were coming off of two gut-wrenching overtime losses to the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators.
Things got interesting in the second period when the Blue Jackets took a 3-1 lead after Adam Fantilli scored twice less than 30 seconds apart.
The Rangers were able to bounce back with two shorthanded goals from Chris Kreider and Braden Schneider.
The Garden was rocking and all momentum seemed to shift in the favor of the Rangers. However, they weren’t able to capitalize on that newfound life.
Columbus pulled away with yet another two-goal lead by the end of the second period and broke the game wide open in the final frame.
Why weren't the Rangers able to seize the momentum?
“There were chances where we had opportunities to score,” Peter Laviolette said. “We missed the net an awful lot tonight. They blocked a lot of shots, their goaltender made some saves and a combination of all of that kept our score at three.”
From a defensive standpoint, the Rangers have struggled all season long, but have recently started to turn things around in that department.
On Sunday night, the Blueshirts took a step back defensively, which was the driving factor in this loss.
“It came in different ways against us tonight,” Laviolette said. “Either we get beat, or the coverage broke down, or it bounces in a different direction or you have someone fall and the coverage breaks down…At the end of the day it is not good enough. We gave up chances that were big in front of our net and that can’t happen.”
The Rangers squandered a massive opportunity this weekend. Playing against the Senators and Blue Jackets, New York had a chance to make some major ground in the standings and put themselves in a playoff position.
Instead, the Rangers lost both games and still sit just outside of a wild card spot. The frustration was evident among the players in the locker room due to this missed opportunity.
“Yes, it’s tough, especially like you said two teams we are battling against,” Zibanejad said of the weekend losses against the Senators and Blue Jackets. “I don’t know, as frustrating as it is and trust me it is, we have a big road trip coming up.”
Over the sense of frustration was a moment of clarity. With 18 games left to go of the 2024-25 season, the Rangers have time to get back on track and Laviolette knows it’s critical to not get too high or too low at this point in the year.
“You gotta move on,” Laviolette said. “We will watch it, we will get better. We gotta get back to work. We are sitting here just a point or two points out of a wild card. We gotta win hockey games. We’re heading out on a road trip and we gotta win games.
“It didn’t go our way, it’s frustrating. We’re disappointed we didn’t play better, but now we gotta get back to work, go on a plane tomorrow, and get some wins on the road.”
The Rangers will be back in action against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
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