February 28, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right winger Kirill Marchenko (86) skates for the puck against New York Islanders left winger Anders Lee (27) during the third period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Image For the first time since replacing Dean Evason with Rick Bowness behind the bench, the Columbus Blue Jackets are on a losing streak.
The Blue Jackets, now in the playoff race under a new coach, will try to avoid a third straight loss when they visit the New York Rangers on Monday night.
The Blue Jackets were last in the Eastern Conference, 45 points and seven out of the final wild-card spot, when they fired Evason on Jan. 12. Columbus is 10-2-1 since that point under Bowness, who first announced his retirement after the Winnipeg Jets lost in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.
The Blue Jackets dropped out of the Olympics four points out of the playoffs and five out since returning from the break with a 4-2 loss at Boston on Thursday and a 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Isaac Lundestrom and Mason Marchment scored to give the Blue Jackets a two-goal lead with 3:58 to play. Columbus allowed two goals in 22 seconds and another in 1 minute and 48 seconds before Adam Pantilli scored the tying goal late in the second half.
“We probably deserved four points (in two games) and we got one against two teams that we were chasing and there are only 24 games left,” Columbus defenseman Jack Walensky said. “So it’s very disappointing, but let me put it this way, we’ve got a lot of hockey left and we’re still in that game, so we’ll go to Rangers on Monday.”
Werenski had two assists in the loss and has two goals and 11 assists on a career-high nine-game point streak, the longest of any defenseman in team history.
The struggling Rangers won 2-1 on penalties in Columbus on Nov. 15 and are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 18-20. New York avoided a six-game losing streak for the first time since 2019 when Vincent Trocheck scored in the only round of the shootout to win 3-2 over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.
The Rangers suffered a two-goal deficit with 1 minute and 59 seconds left in the second quarter, and Mika Zibanejad scored a power play goal with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, and Taylor Radish scored the tying goal with 2 minutes and 57 seconds left in the third. Until Trocheck scored, Igor Shesterkin helped them get a point with a 31-save performance that completely shut out Evgeni Malkin with 10 seconds left in overtime.
Despite the comeback, New York is 3-11-2 in its last 16 games since a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2. The Rangers are also 2-5-2 in their last nine home games and looking to snap back-to-back home wins for the first time this season heading into their second game before Friday’s trade deadline.
“I wish things had been different, but there are a lot of things I can’t change now, right?” Zibanejad said. “I don’t think regretting things or wishing things were different helps. We have to deal with it. That’s it. This is the situation we’re in, and we’re going to try to do the best we can.”
–Field level media
