Rangers capture sixth straight road victory as Miller's goal in shootout wins it

COLUMBUS, Ohio — After scoring 13 goals in their previous two games — both wins — the Rangers had to play a tighter brand of hockey in a fists-flying, low-scoring affair against the Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.

Defense and goaltending, not goal-scoring, was the story of this one. It wasn’t settled until a shootout, which the Rangers dominated to take a 2-1 victory.

Igor Shesterkin, who made a save on a penalty shot in the first period, stopped the first two Blue Jackets in the shootout. Vincent Trocheck beat Jet Greaves on the Rangers’ second attempt.

Kirill Marchenko tied it for the Blue Jackets, but J.T. Miller ended the game by going high to give the Rangers four points on the two-game road trip.

It was the Rangers’ sixth straight road victory; they are 9-1-1 away from the Garden and 1-6-1 at home. The Rangers will host Detroit on Sunday night.

Shesterkin had 24 saves. Greaves stopped 31 shots for Columbus. Both made huge saves in overtime on would-be game-enders.

“I just think it’s evidence that we can win different ways,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think a sign of a good team is when they have a comfort level playing in a one-goal game and a low-scoring game, and I believe that we’re developing that comfort level playing in a close, one-goal, low-scoring game.”

The Rangers-Blue Jackets clash was not the biggest game in town. No. 1 Ohio State was blowing out UCLA at the same time about 2 1/2 miles away on Woody Hayes Drive, and Ohio’s capital city was crammed all day with exuberant Buckeyes fans.

The highlight of a scoreless first period came with 3:41 left when Shesterkin stopped Miles Wood on a wide-angle penalty shot. Wood, who had been slashed on the right arm by Taylor Raddysh, crashed into the goalpost and went hard into the end boards, leading to the penalty shot.

“I think it’s one of those moments in a game that we call critical moments,” Sullivan said. “I think there are moments in a game that have the potential to change outcomes.”

Saturday’s opening period was a far cry from the Rangers’ most recent game on Wednesday at Tampa Bay. The Rangers scored on their first three shots and four of their first five in a 7-3 win over the Lightning in which they allowed three goals in a wild first period.

On Saturday, the Rangers outshot Columbus 10-4 in the first period and had taken the first seven shots of the second when the Blue Jackets’ Damon Severson tripped Alexis Lafreniere for the game’s first power play 4:12 into the period.

The Rangers’ power play produced the game’s first goal as Mika Zibanejad jammed in a rebound at 5:42 for his sixth goal of the season.

Then things got chippy! Columbus tough guy Mathieu Olivier tried to goad Braden Schneider into a fight, though Schneider would have none of it. A few minutes later, defenseman Urho Vaakanainen was called for cross-checking, which led to a multi-player scrum along the end boards.

The Blue Jackets’ power play lasted all of 20 seconds. Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov was called for interference and the teams played four-on-four.

With six minutes left in the period, the Rangers were called for too many men on the ice. The unforced error led to a power-play goal by Voronkov and it was 1-1.

Then came a fight: Olivier vs. Sam Carrick. The two traded blows before Olivier staggered Carrick with a right to end it. The period ended with another scrum featuring a disagreement between Lafreniere and Cole Sillinger.

The Olivier-Carrick bout, Sullivan said, was another “critical moment.”

Carrick, who is filling the pugilistic role of the injured Matt Rempe, said of the Blue Jackets: “I think they were having a good pushback there and trying to stir it up. I know Olivier — fought him a couple of times — and he’s an honest player. I like his game a lot. He’s doing what he can to spark his team and I think we’ve done a good job as a team standing up for each other. That’s part of what it takes to be a good team.”

Notes & quotes: D Will Borgen did not play because of an upper-body injury. Borgen, who was scratched after going through pregame warmups, had played in 285 consecutive games. Matthew Robertson replaced him.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.