A four-goal collapse should have been fatal, but Kirill Marchenko’s one-timer 64 seconds into overtime let Columbus steal two points and exposed New York’s gaping home-ice vulnerability.
How the meltdown unfolded
Columbus steam-rolled the Rangers for 40 minutes, building a 4-0 lead on goals by Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Sean Monahan (shorthanded) and Mathiew Olivier. Elvis Merzlikins looked impenetrable, New York’s power play was nullified by a goaltender-interference wipe-off, and the Garden crowd booed the home team off the ice after the second period.
Then came a 20-minute nightmare: Vladislav Gavrikov scored 30 seconds into the third, Gabe Perreault added another 24 seconds later, Will Borgen beat Merzlikins at 12:52 and Perreault completed the brace with 4:46 left to force overtime AP NHL. The Rangers out-shot Columbus 16-7 in the period, the fastest four-goal burst by any team in the NHL this season.
Marchenko delivers the knockout
Just 1:04 into 3-on-3, Marchenko took a cross-ice feed from Boone Jenner, walked in alone and wired a top-shelf one-timer past Igor Shesterkin before the goaltender could square his shoulders. The tally was the Russian winger’s second of the night and his seventh career overtime winner, most among all Blue Jackets since he entered the league in 2022 AP NHL.
What the win means for Columbus
The Blue Jackets snapped a two-game slide and leapt to 72 points, one behind the idle Flyers for the final Eastern wild-card berth with 18 games remaining. Marchenko’s four-point eruption pushed him to 27 goals on the year, tying him with David Pastrnak for the league lead among Russian-born players and giving Pascal Vincent a legitimate top-six weapon down the stretch.
Equally important: Columbus finished a three-game Metropolitan trip 2-1-0 and proved it can win ugly—vital for a roster loaded with rookies and bubble playoff experience.
Alarm bells for the Rangers
New York’s home record sank to 7-16-5, the worst winning percentage (.342) of any Original Six team in its own building. Monday’s collapse marked the eighth time this season the Rangers have blown a multi-goal lead at the Garden, and the third time they’ve surrendered at least three unanswered tallies in the third period.
Coach Peter Laviolette’s club still occupies the first wild-card slot, but the Islanders and Flyers are within single-digit points with games in hand. The optics are ugly: the Rangers haven’t won consecutive home contests since mid-December, and Shesterkin’s even-strength save percentage at MSG has dipped below .900.
Key numbers that tell the story
- 4 – Goals scored by Columbus in the first 40 minutes on 14 shots.
- 4 – Goals allowed by Columbus in a 15:14 span of the third, matching the fastest four-goal rally allowed in franchise history.
- 1:04 – Time of Marchenko’s OT winner, the second-fastest sudden-death strike in Blue Jackets history.
- 16 – Home losses for the Rangers, most in the NHL.
- 0 – Power-play goals by New York on three opportunities, continuing a month-long slide with the man-advantage (4-for-36 in February).
What’s next
Columbus returns home to face Nashville on Tuesday, a must-win matchup against another Central Division club chasing a wild-card berth. The Rangers draw Toronto on Thursday, their lone chance to bank points before a three-game Western swing that could decide whether they limp into the playoffs or free-fall out of the picture.
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