Rangers blank rival Blue Jackets to storm into second wild-card spot

No win has been more monumental this season than the one the Rangers picked up Saturday night.

Because with 15 games left in the regular season, the Blueshirts are back in the playoff picture after a dominant 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena pushed them directly ahead of Columbus and into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

It’s been a long and winding road to get back here, with the Rangers briefly stepping above the postseason cutoff line for the first time in a while earlier this month.

The Rangers celebrate with Artemi Panarin after his goal during their 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets on March 15, 2025.

They then failed to capitalize on a chance to take the No. 1 wild-card spot in Ottawa last Saturday.

And then again the following night against the Blue Jackets, who dumped seven goals on Rangers backup goalie Jonathan Quick in the teams’ prior meeting.

The Rangers finally seized the opportunity in front of them, and it was arguably the most important one.

“I thought it was a great team effort,” said Adam Fox, who returned to the Rangers lineup after missing the past eight games on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. “Obviously, we didn’t like the way we played last time against these guys. Two points against this team is worth a little more than another two points. Great response by the group, definitely felt good to be back with them.”

There are still several teams right on the Rangers’ heels that can overtake them if they don’t keep pushing forward. Since Montreal beat the Panthers Saturday night, the Canadiens moved within one point of the Rangers to go along with a points percentage that is .001 higher because of their game in hand.

Vincent Trocheck celebrates after scoring his second goal during the third period of the Rangers’ win over the Blue Jackets.

Columbus also still has a game in hand on the Rangers, who only have two multi-game road trips left on the season.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “There are still teams that are right there. This thing juggles. Other teams got a game in hand on us. None of that matters. We talked about it, we’re in charge of what we do. We’re in complete charge of winning hockey games and don’t have to look anywhere else… We just got to be responsible for ourselves right now.”

There was no better way to go out on this Midwest swing, over which the Rangers went 2-1.

Igor Shesterkin makes one of his 21 saves during the Rangers’ win over the Blue Jackets.

Mika Zibanejad was a puck-hunting menace Saturday night, finishing with a primary assist, two shots on goal and two hits.

As part of a solid first period for the Rangers, who were tight in their own end and aggressive in the offensive zone, the Swedish center did a majority of the work to get the visitors on the board first less than two minutes into the game.

Pressuring Damon Severson into a turnover, Zibanejad then won the puck race on the forecheck and dished it back to Alexis Lafrenière, who put it into a wide-open net for the 1-0 lead.

Alexis Lafrenière, who scored a goal earlier in the game, checks Dmitri Voronkov during the third period of the Rangers’ win over the Blue Jackets.

Columbus was charged with eight giveaways in the opening 20 minutes, while the Rangers had zero.

Artemi Panarin extended his point streak to eight games and doubled the Rangers lead later in the second period, when the star Russian wing stick handled the puck through the left circle before wristing it home for his 29th goal of the season.

The Rangers seemed to execute their game plan perfectly. There wasn’t much room for either team in the third period, in which Vincent Trocheck scored twice — including a shorthanded empty-netter — to ice the game.

Igor Shesterkin didn’t have that much of a workload, but the Russian netminder stopped all 21 shots he faced in his 23rd win and fifth shutout of the season.

It counted as the Rangers’ third shutout in the past eight games, as well as their NHL-best eighth of the 2024-25 campaign.

With the Rangers back in action at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night against the Oilers, it’s possible that Shesterkin could be back in goal for what would be the fifth back-to-back appearance of his career.

“We haven’t talked about anything about [Sunday], we just finished this game here,” Laviolette said on the matter. “Good win tonight, we’ll start to break it down and move into tomorrow as we head out of here.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — No win has been more monumental this season than the one the Rangers picked up Saturday night. 

Because with 15 games left in the regular season, the Blueshirts are back in the playoff picture after a dominant 4-0 over the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena pushed them directly ahead of Columbus and into the second wild card spot. 

It’s been a long and winding road to get back here, with the Rangers briefly stepping above the postseason cutoff line for the first time in a while earlier this month. 

They then failed to capitalize on a chance to take the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference in Ottawa last Saturday. 

And then again the following night against the Blue Jackets, who dumped seven goals on Rangers backup goalie Jonathan Quick in the two team’s last meeting. 

The Rangers finally seized the opportunity in front of them, and it was arguably the most important one.  

The work, however, is far from over. 

There are still several teams right on the Rangers’ heels that can overtake them if they don’t keep pushing forward. If Montreal beats the Panthers Saturday night, the Canadiens would move one point behind the Rangers to go along with a slightly better points percentage because of their game in hand. 

Columbus also still has a game in hand on the Rangers, who only have two multi-game road trips left on the season.