Welp.
In a game that felt like it was over in the first few minutes, the Blue Jackets fell to the Rangers on Friday night, 4-0. The Rangers outchanced and outshot the Blue Jackets on the night, and some nice saves from Igor Shesterkin helped preserve the shutout.
in the opening 20 minutes, the Rangers were all over the Blue Jackets, and they were rewarded with two early goals. First, Ryan Strome was given far too much space as he fired a wrist shot past Merzlikins. Then, reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox drew three Blue Jackets and found Alexis Lafreniere with a beautiful pass. Lafreniere buried the puck to give the Rangers a 2-0 advantage.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RANGERS | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
After neither team found the back of the net in the second period, the Rangers added to their lead early in the third. Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal to pad the Rangers' advantage. Then, Kreider scored another on the man advantage to make it 4-0.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Blue Jackets generated 13 high-danger chances and 2.46xG. Despite that, they were unable to solve Shesterkin all night.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets will travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils on Sunday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.
