It's a tough way to end the winning streak.
Vincent Trocheck scored the lone shootout goal and Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves as the New York Rangers shut out the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The loss snapped the Blue Jackets' six-game winning streak; however, the point extended their seven-game point streak, and they reclaimed the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after the Ottawa Senators briefly took over the top spot after their win over the Boston Bruins.
Tarasov Shines In SO Loss
Coming off his best start of the season in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers in which he was named the Second Star of the Game, Daniil Tarasov turned in another solid performance on Broadway Saturday night.
Making 26 saves, it wasn't until the shootout before Trocheck could finally beat the goaltender.
As the score indicates, neither offense could do much and the Blue Jackets helped out their goaltender with 16 blocked shots and were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
With the loss, Columbus falls to 4-1 in the shootout this season while New York is 1-0.
Trocheck Wins It
Trocheck, the Rangers' second shooter of the shootout scored the lone goal of the entire game to propel the Rangers to the 1-0 win.
Vincent Trocheck scores and Igor Shesterkin stopped all 27 in regulation and overtime - and then all 3 in the shootout for the @NYRangers win! pic.twitter.com/BhS2bXFq1y
— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) January 19, 2025
Most recent 1-0's in #CBJ history:
— Ed Francis (@BlueJacketStats) January 19, 2025
Regulation Win: @ Blues, 1/30/24
Regulation Loss: @ Capitals, 1/8/23
Overtime Win: vs. Red Wings, 4/27/21
Overtime Loss: @ Penguins, 12/12/19
The Rangers win it 1-0 in the shootout.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) January 19, 2025
Daniil Tarasov deserves all the credit in the world for an outstanding performance. Despite the loss, he gets his first career shutout and stood toe-to-toe with one of the best goalies in the world for 65 minutes. #CBJ
#CBJ Daniil Tarasov became the first goalie in NHL history to register his first career NHL shutout and suffer a loss in the same game.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 19, 2025
Per the league, before Saturday, 21 goalies had failed to win in their first NHL shutouts. But all of those 21 games had ended in ties.
Close But No Cigar
Saturday was one of those games that the Blue Jackets will need to grow accustomed to as the schedule gets tougher.
While Columbus looked poised to break through, especially early in the game as they outshot the Rangers 15-4 in the first period, they were obviously unable to beat Shesterkin.
#CBJ F James van Riemsdyk on the close nature of tonight's game: "That's going to have to be the plan as the season goes on here down the stretch. Not a lot of room out there. We have to make sure we're really tight and create off of that. I thought we did a good job with that."
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 19, 2025
#CBJ head coach Dean Evason liked his team's patience in its 1-0 shootout loss tonight: "It was a great hockey game. Both teams played hard. It might not have been exciting as far as scoring goals, but the effort was there by both teams. The desperation was there by both teams."
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 19, 2025
The Jackets are in the middle of a stretch which includes eight out of nine on the road. That stretch includes games against teams currently in playoff spots such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Dallas Stars.
One More In New York
The New York trip continues as the Blue Jackets take on the New York Islanders on Monday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET from UBS Arena.
