NEW YORK — Six games into the season, it is starting to become harder to write off these performances by the Rangers as aberrations.
They lost for the second straight time and third time in four games Sunday, falling behind early and going down, 5-1, Sunday at Madison Square Garden to a Columbus Blue Jackets team that was playing the second of a back-to-back, after losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3, on Saturday.
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant made the decision to start backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak, rather than Igor Shesterkin, and that didn’t go well. Halak allowed five goals on 22 shots. Daniil Tarasov made 30 saves for Columbus.
Vitali Kravtsov returned to the lineup for the Rangers for the first time since he was forced to leave the season opener following his third shift in the game. Kravtsov replaced Jimmy Vesey in the lineup, playing on a third line with Barclay Goodrow and Filip Chytil.
But on that line’s first shift, Chytil was forced to leave after taking a hit from behind by Columbus’ Cole Sillinger, who skated by Chytil, who did not have the puck, and appeared to shoulder him in the head. Neither referee saw the play, apparently, and Chytil fell to the ice and remained on his knees for several moments before leaving the game.
Columbus took the lead at 17:54 of the first period on a goal by Zach Werenski that came on a counterattack after the Rangers were dominating possession in the offensive zone. A shot by defenseman Zac Jones was blocked in front and the Blue Jackets broke three-on-two the other way. Werenski, jumping into the play, got his stick on a feed from Liam Foudy for the goal.
The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 on a goal by Andrew Peeke at 1:24 of the second, on a goal Halak should have saved, a wrist shot from the right point that appeared to handcuff him. The Blue Jackets made it 3-0 at 9:00 of the second period on a goal by Yegor Chinakhov that came after the Rangers iced the puck and couldn’t change, then lost the ensuing faceoff and couldn’t get the puck out of the zone.
The Rangers finally got on the board when Artemi Panarin scored a five-on-three power-play goal at 18:44 of the second, but the Rangers couldn’t build on that. Goals late in the third period by Eric Robinson and Kent Johnson put the score out of reach.
