COLUMBUS, Ohio _ The margins have been thin between wins and losses all season for the Blue Jackets. They entered Friday night with two straight overtime losses in which the game-winners started with a few judgment errors that ended up being costly.
Mistakes will happen, but they are hurting a little more for the Jackets right now with more than $30 million in talent out with injuries, and they're a team that can't afford many mistakes because of the lack of offensive firepower they've shown for most of the season.
Tied 1-1 late in the third period, the Jackets made another mental error with a minor penalty for too many men on the ice, which ended up resulting in the winning goal after the Jackets failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone for more than a minute.
As the penalty was coming to an end, Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad passed the puck from below the goal line right to the stick of Chris Kreider, who hammered the puck home with 3:11 to play in a 3-1 Rangers win at Nationwide Arena.
Ryan Strome added an empty-netter with 1:11 left to seal it.
It was the Jackets first loss in regulation to an Eastern Conference opponent in 21 games.
The Jackets' offensive woes are looking like they're starting to catch up to them, winning the battle in shot attempts and shots on goal but struggling to cash in on opportunities.
The Jackets had a chance late to take the lead on the penalty kill with less than five minutes remaining. David Savard fired a pass up to Boone Jenner, who had a breakaway opportunity against goalie Alexandar Georgiev. But the shot went off his blocker, then the post.
After blowing a two-goal lead the previous night in Buffalo, the Jackets had about as nightmarish of a start as possible.
Off a faceoff, Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba fired a wrist shot toward the goal from the blue line, near the Jackets bench. Forward Pavel Buchnevich got his stick on the puck to redirect it in midair and under the arm of goalie Elvis Merzlikins for the early 1-0 lead.
From there, the Jackets looked stunned and _ but for a few chances _ weren't much of a threat the entire period, which caused coach John Tortorella to change up his line by swapping first-line center Pierre-Luc Dubois to the fourth line with center Kevin Stenlund.
The Rangers outshot the Jackets 11-6 in the first period, but then something triggered a significant reversal in the men in blue.
The Jackets played quicker and actually made the Rangers defend in their zone for long stretches, peppering Georgiev with 22 shots in the second period to the Rangers' seven shots. But nothing was getting through.
The Jackets had a four-minute power play in the period in which they had four shots on goal, but had long stretches of stagnation.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored the only goal for the Jackets with 1:08 remaining in the second to tie the score.
