New York Rangers @ Columbus Blue Jackets: 2/25/24 Game Recap

A meeting between the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets never disappoints, and tonight was yet another epic game. There was already heat between Rangers' Matt Rempe and Blue Jackets' Mathieu Olivier before this game got underway, and it didn't take long for a hockey fight, by definition, to break out. Mathieu Oliver turned this battle into WWE On Ice, throwing punch after punch, and without question won. Minutes after this, Blue Jackets' Dmitri Voronkov would break the 0-0 with his sixteenth goal this season. The primary assist goes to Kirill Marchenko, giving him fourteen this season, while the secondary goes to Damon Severson, who now has twelve. That goal would come at 4:34, but the Rangers wouldn't have a quiet opening period as former Blue Jacket Artemi Panarin would match Voronkov's goal at 14:22. The 1-1 tie would close the first period. 

0:18 into the second period, Kirill Marchenko would ensure himself another multipoint game with his seventeenth goal this season. With the primary assist, giving him fourteen this season, Dmitiri Voronkov also gains a multipoint night before the game's even half over! The secondary assist would go to Yegor Chinakov, who has thirteen this season. At 11:11, the Rangers would again match the Blue Jackets with a goal from Adam Edstrom, but that would be their final matching goal in this period, as the home team would have another two goals before this twenty-minute period was up! Jack Roslovic would be first, adding his fourth goal this season at 11:57. With this goal, Johnny Gaudreau adds assist thirty-three, while Boone Jenner adds his ninth. Then, before the period ends, Ivan Proverov pops in his fifth goal this season at 18:35. Jack Roslovic joins the shortlist for a multipoint game tonight with the primary assist, giving him thirteen this season. The secondary assist goes to Johnny Gaudreau, another multipoint night player with thirty-four! The Blue Jackets would also head into the final regulation period with a two-goal 4-2 lead over a strong Rangers team. 

The final twenty minutes were a nail-biter as the Blue Jackets let far larger leads slip from their grasp against far less challenging teams. The Rangers had been riding a ten-game win streak coming to Columbus tonight, and I'm sure against us they expected to expand that to eleven. Unfortunately, they didn't expect a calm Elvis Merzlikins in our net and a hungry Blue Jackets team. An empty net goal wouldn't happen tonight, but the home team didn't need it! The Blue Jackets win tonight, 4-2, and show vast improvement from the beginning of the season to tonight! 

The Rangers and Blue Jackets will meet again in a few days on Wednesday, but this time in the Rangers' home of Madison Square Garden. What a game that will be, as I know the Rangers will be looking for some home-ice revenge. I think the Blue Jackets will be ready, though. That showdown is set for 7:00 p.m. 

GO CBJ!    







     

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