The Rangers dropped their second straight contest and third in the last four contests, 5-1 to the Blue Jackets on Sunday. Today, like Thursday, was a winnable game. Unlike against San Jose, when New York just stopped playing after the second period, tonight, the Rangers were brutal from about the midway point of the first stanza. It does not get any easier as Colorado is in town Tuesday followed by a game the next night on the Island. Following those two contests, in a two-game road trip with the Rangers in Dallas on Saturday and Arizona on Sunday.

Game recap:


Lines:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Goodrow-Chytil-Kravtsov
Blais-Carpenter-Reaves

Miller-Trouba
Lindgren-Fox
Jones-Schneider

Halak
Shesterkin

Vitali Kravtsov dressed for the first time since Opening Night, replacing Jimmy Vesey. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of that third line, as Filip Chytil was injured on a somewhat questionable "check" to the head by Cole Sillnger's shoulder just 1:32 into the game. The injury is being classified as an upper-body injury, but contract looked to be the head, which brings up the concussiuon concern. Kravtsov didn't show much in his 11:33 of ice time, though that was the case for much of the team.

If Chytil misses Tuesday's game, Vesey most likely gets back in. New York lost Dryden Hunt off waivers due to the desire to accrue cap space. For that reason, unless Chytil is lost for a while, don't look for Julian Gauthier or Jonny Brodzinksi or Gustav Rydahl to be promoted. Now, if GM Chris Drury really wanted to shake things up - which might be needed as the fourth line has been brutal and a spark is needed - Will Cuylle could be an option sooner rather than later.

Offensively and defensively, the Rangers looked a step slow. The top-six, save for Artemi Panarin and maybe Kaapo Kakko, didn't do much. Defensively, a poor offensive zone pass by Zac Jones led to a counter attack and first goal of the game by Columbus.

The aggressive forecheck and north-south play that is on display when New York is going well was non-existent much of the contest. In the third, the team looked to have packed it in, allowing Columbus to score twice in 44 seconds to salt the game away. If you want to be or portray yourself as an elite team, these are the games where you need to dig down deep and at least make it a contest late. Per Arthur Staple, the advanced. metrics will show the Rangers had more high-danger chances and offensive-zone time than Columbus. Watching the game, the latter seems reasonable, the former less plausible, but even if both are the case, not enough to notch the win.

Credit also goes to Daniil Tarasov, who made 30 saves for his first NHL win. New York didn't make Tarasov work that hard, but when they did, he was up to the task. Tarasov showed a good glove hand, with the Rangers repeatedly testing his glove rather than trying another tack or approach.

Jaroslav Halak was a surprising start between the pipes. With two days off since Thursday, I thought Igor Shesterkin would go today. When you factor in back-to-back games upcoming Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday, Halak is likely to play two of the games. With this being the case and a somewhat light start to the season, Igor seemed to be the way to go. Coach Gerald Gallant and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire decided to go with Halak. That choice proved to be unwise, as Halak allowed at least two weak goals, dooming New York.

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