“Remember when the Rangers were living a dual reality at the start of 2025-26?”
No matter how the next five months go for the Blueshirts, that will surely be a dialogue at some point in the future.
The Rangers exploded for four goals in the first period of their 7-3 road win over the Lightning on Wednesday, boosting them to 8-1-1 away from MSG — their best 10-game start away from home in franchise history.
Seven goals on 21 shots against an all-world netminder, enough to leap the Rangers from No. 32 overall to No. 29 in shooting percentage.
Now 9-7-2, the contrast between their duff home play is comically stark.
But including Monday’s first home win of the season, the Rangers have buried 13 goals in two games heading into Saturday’s tilt in Columbus.
A big reason why the Rangers have been inconsistent is because their skill players haven’t pulled their weight. But all of a sudden, Artemi Panarin has nine points and a plus-four rating in his last four games, and it is ostensibly related to a haircut.
Vincent Trocheck has four points in the two games he’s played since returning from injury.
The Blue Jackets are rolling off a pair of wins themselves, generating chances with a high-speed roster powered by Zach Werenski’s mobility from the backend. They pepper the opposing goaltender with a healthy 31 shots per game, but only convert at a measly nine percent rate.
That’s because when they recover the puck off their heavy forecheck system, Werenski and the blue liners funnel lots of pucks to the net. That in addition to a young forward core that doesn’t drive the middle with a lot of consistency makes the Jackets a top-five overall team in low danger shots.
That could spell problems against a Rangers club that has given the puck away the second fewest times in the NHL.
Igor Shesterkin has stopped 97 percent of low danger shots against him per MoneyPuck.
On the other end, Jet Greaves’ consistency still remains a concern as he splits time with Elvis Merzlinkins and sports a 3.00 GAA and .897 SV%. Greaves is an athletic goalie, but some positioning lapses in the crease have led to mistakes given Columbus yields high shot volumes.
Betting on the NHL?
Although they’ve contended fairly at 5-on-5, their sputtering power play makes the Rangers’ recent woes look palatable, ranking as one of the four less efficient teams than them. The Rangers’ 81 percent effectiveness on the penalty kill should only compound those issues.
Columbus hasn’t shown enough resilience to give the road Rangers a price this fair, so we might as well back the splits.
THE PLAY: Rangers (-115, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
