PREVIEW: Blue Jackets, Rangers meet in critical Metro showdown
Coming off consecutive road setbacks, Columbus travels to take on New York with important points on the line
The NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and the Blue Jackets are ready for the 20-game sprint to the finish.
Things get under way for the team in fitting fashion, as there’s no dipping their toe into the water as post-deadline play begins tonight in Manhattan. Columbus will face a New York Rangers team that is tied with the Blue Jackets for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, a sign that the games will only increase in importance from here on out.
The Blue Jackets welcomed forwards Luke Kunin and Christian Fischer into the fold the past few days, and they’ll look to see how those players integrate themselves into the team down the stretch. The additions – along with the recent returns to health for Boone Jenner and Yegor Chinakhov – meant some line juggling in practice Saturday, and head coach Dean Evason said the Blue Jackets will have to see how things shake out from here.
“To this point, I think we’ve kept our lines pretty much the same, but it’s definitely a situation and an opportunity for us to experiment a little bit,” Evason said. “Hopefully we make the right choice, but you’re always trying to find some chemistry. Obviously, we know the players that have been here, who seems to fit well or does well together. We’ll play around a little bit, but hopefully we don’t have to do a lot of it and we can get some chemistry in that area.”
The sooner the better, as the Blue Jackets have followed a four-game win streak out of the 4 Nations Face-Off with consecutive losses earlier this week at Tampa Bay (6-2) and Florida (3-0). Those were tough setbacks as the Blue Jackets had an opportunity to create some space between themselves and the rest of the teams in the playoff hunt, but Evason said Saturday that his team had to tip its hat to two of the best squads in the league.
“They’re both really good teams that are playing extremely well right now,” Evason said. “Not that we’re not a good team and we’re playing well, but both of those teams seem to be really rolling, and we couldn’t get traction in either game, certainly in the Florida game. … We gave ourselves an opportunity in both games, we thought, but those two teams are I’m sure the cream of the crop. They’re very high up obviously in the rankings and what have you, but I think we didn’t show like we wanted to.”
Thursday’s loss to the Panthers could be seen as particularly dispiriting as the Blue Jackets didn’t get on the board, but veteran forward James van Riemsdyk said that’s emblematic of playoff-style hockey.
“You gotta fight for every inch down the stretch into the playoffs,” van Riemsdyk said. “Those two teams, especially these last couple of games, those are two teams that have been successful the last few years here. I think it’s just learning from that a little bit and knowing that style of play that it’s going to take for us to be successful to our identity, which we’ve done a lot of the year. So I think I expect a good response game for us on our next one.”
Head coach: Peter Laviolette (Second season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 3.03 (13th) | Scoring defense: 3.02 (20th) | PP: 19.6 percent (22nd) | PK: 83.0 percent (3rd)
The narrative: With a star-studded roster and two appearances in the Eastern Conference Final in the last three seasons, the Rangers came into the season as a Stanley Cup contender, but this year has been a roller coaster. Convinced his roster needed some major changes, general manager Chris Drury traded captain Jacob Trouba in November and later added standout forward J.T. Miller, but the Rangers enter this game tied with the Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Team leaders: The Bread Man keeps baking up points in the Big Apple, as former Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin is averaging over a point per game for the eighth straight season with team-best totals of 27 goals and 66 points. Defenseman Adam Fox has struggled to put the puck in the net this season (five goals) but is still facilitating the offense with a team-high 43 assists (fifth among NHL defensemen), while Mike Zibanejad (14-31-45), Vincent Trocheck (17-23-40) and Miller (7-7-14 in 12 games) follow and Chris Kreider has 17 goals.
Igor Shesterkin has again been solid in net with a 21-21-4 record, 2.89 GAA and .905 save percentage in 46 starts after getting the nod yesterday in Ottawa, while Jonathan Quick (9-5-2, 2.92, .903) has been a more than capable backup.
What’s new: The Rangers have been the epitome of the roller coaster at New York-New York, starting 12-4-1, following that with a 4-15-0 stretch, and now riding a 7-3-2 run coming into tonight’s game after yesterday’s shootout loss in Ottawa. Goal scoring seems to be the big variable, as the Rangers are 7-0-1 when scoring at least three goals in that recent stretch and 0-3-1 when scoring two or less. In a season of upheaval, the trade deadline saw Reilly Smith, Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Lindgren shipped out and Jusso Parsinen, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Calvin de Haan and Carson Soucy added.
Trending: Columbus was 2-1-1 a year ago against the Rangers but 0-1-1 this year, getting a point in a 1-0 shootout loss to the Rangers in MSG in January before a 4-3 setback at home Feb. 8.
Former CBJ: Panarin has continued his high-scoring ways in Manhattan since signing with the team after the 2018-19 season, while Quick is a CBJ alum in name only after being with the team for a few days at the 2023 trade deadline.
Scratches: Christian Fischer, Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson
Injured reserve: Cole Sillinger (upper body), Kevin Labanc (shoulder), Sean Monahan (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body)
Roster Report: Kunin will make his CBJ debut after being added Friday, while Tarasov will get the start in net after posting his first career shutout in Madison Square Garden in January.
Zach Werenski has tied his own single-season CBJ record for defensemen with 20 tallies on the season. Werenski is also tied with Rick Nash for the franchise career record with 258 assists. He has a 17-39-56 line in his last 46 games and has 34 points (9-25-34) in his past 27. His average ice time of 26:58 leads all NHL players, and he’s second among league defensemen in goals (20) and second in points (66) on the season. … Kirill Marchenko has set a new career high with 24 goals on the season. He is fifth in the NHL with a plus-31 rating. … Kent Johnson has 19 points (9-10-19) in the past 18 games, including a six-game point streak that ended Thursday, and is third in the NHL in goals scored per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. … Adam Fantilli has an 11-12-23 line in the last 24 games and had a six-game point streak end Thursday. … James van Riemsdyk has notched a 10-10-20 line in the last 24 games. … Mathieu Olivier has points is one of three NHL players with 10-plus goals and 70 penalty minutes in 2024-25. … Boone Jenner has seven assists in six games this season since his return from injury. … Columbus has tied a franchise record (2018-19) with its 11th game with at least six goals, and the Blue Jackets have at least five in 18 of 62 games this year. The Blue Jackets are second in the NHL with 145 goals at 5-on-5, and their 3.27 goals per game are seventh in the league. … Blue Jackets defensemen have 42 goals this season, the most in the NHL, and 154 points, good for a tie for third place in the league.
March 9, 2001: Deron Quint notches a hat trick – the second in CBJ history and first by a defenseman – and Robert Kron scores a shorthanded goal in overtime as the Blue Jackets capture a 7-6 win at Florida. At that point in the inaugural season, the game goes down as the highest-scoring CBJ game of all-time.
March 9, 2004: Columbus trades an original Blue Jacket, dealing wing Geoff Sanderson to Vancouver for a third-round pick in the 2004 draft. The Blue Jackets also acquire center Brian Holzinger from Pittsburgh for Lasse Pirjeta.
Marcy 9, 2013: Sergei Bobrovsky earns his first shutout as a Blue Jacket, stopping 30 shots in a 3-0 home win vs. Detroit that extends Columbus’ win streak to four games.
March 9, 2024: Daniil Tarasov ties his career high with 47 saves but the Blue Jackets drop a 2-1 matinee final to Nashville in Nationwide Arena.
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COLUMBUS (T-4th in Metropolitan)
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NEW YORK (T-4th in Metropolitan)
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LW 10 Dmitri Voronkov
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C 19 Adam Fantilli
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RW 86 Kirill Marchenko
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LW 91 Kent Johnson
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C 38 Boone Jenner
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RW 24 Mathieu Olivier
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LW 11 Luke Kunin
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C 17 Justin Danforth
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RW 59 Yegor Chinakhov
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LW 21 James van Riemsdyk
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C 7 Sean Kuraly
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RW 27 Zach Aston-Reese
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LD 8 Zach Werenski
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RD 15 Dante Fabbro
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G 40 Daniil Tarasov (starter)
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LD 5 Denton Mateychuk
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RD 9 Ivan Provorov
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G 90 Elvis Merzlikins
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LD 2 Jake Christiansen
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RD 78 Damon Severson
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What channel is New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets on today? Time, TV, streaming
The New York Rangers are facing off against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden Sunday night.
Here’s how to watch the Rangers game, including time, TV schedule and streaming information:
Cable/Network TV: MSG Network, NHL Network (nationally, outside NYC market)
Start time: 6 p.m.
You can stream the game on The Gotham Sports App.
Gotham Sports App is available with a cable or satellite login and also has options for non-cable subscribers and for individual games.
TV streaming: You can also stream if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, Optimum, Verizon Fios, DirecTV Stream or fuboTV. Nationally televised games may be available on ESPN+ (if broadcast on ABC, ESPN or carried by ESPN+), Hulu (ESPN+ broadcasts) or MAX (TNT/TBS/TruTV broadcasts).
Emily Barnes reports on consumer-related issues for the USA TODAY Network’s New York Connect Team, focusing on scam and recall-related topics. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@gannett.com.
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By CBS New York Team
March 9, 2025 / 9:26 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Adam Fantilli scored three goals for his second career hat trick, and the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Rangers 7-3 on Sunday night.
Mathieu Olivier had two goals, Dante Fabbro added a goal and an assist, and Justin Danforth also scored as Columbus won for the fifth time in seven games. Zach Werenski and Dmitri Voronkov each had two assists, and Daniil Tarasov stopped 30 shots.
Artemi Panarin, Braden Schneider and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, and Mika Zibanejad had two assists. Jonathan Quick finished with 20 saves in New York’s third straight loss (0-1-2).
Fantilli scored two goals 26 seconds apart early in the second period to give the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead.
Schneider and Kredier scored short-handed goals 42 seconds apart to tie the score, but it was all Blue Jackets after that.
Olivier and Fabbro scored late in the middle period to give Columbus a 5-3 lead.
Olivier got credit for his second of the night after Rangers defenseman Zac Jones knocked the rebound of his shot past Quick midway through the third.
Fantilli finished the hat trick with 8:09 remaining.
Blue Jackets: Columbus moved one point ahead of Ottawa for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Rangers: New York remained outside of a playoff spot, one point behind the Senators for the second wild card.
Fantilli got a pass from Kirill Marchenko from in front of Quick and fired a shot from between the circles past Quick for the 20-year-old center’s second hat trick this season.
Schneider and Kreider scored short-handed goals, giving the Rangers a league-high 13 on the season.
Blue Jackets visit Devils on Tuesday, and Rangers play at Winnipeg to open a three-game trip.
The CBS New York Team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you New York web coverage on cbsnews.com.
© 2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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