Columbus Blue Jackets 5, New York Rangers 4 (OT). Madison Square Garden, New York. Monday, March 2, 2026.
If you want to understand what makes NHL hockey so compelling and so relentless in its capacity to produce drama, the events at Madison Square Garden on Monday night provide a useful case study. The Columbus Blue Jackets led 4-0 heading into the third period. In a league where such leads are considered virtually insurmountable, what followed was remarkable: the Rangers scored four times in the final twenty minutes to tie the game. Then, one minute and six seconds into overtime, Kirill Marchenko ended it with a shot from the left face-off circle that deflected off Igor Shesterkin and settled in the net.
Final score: Blue Jackets 5, Rangers 4. Columbus won on the road. The Rangers lost for the fifth time in six games.
How Columbus Built the Lead
The Blue Jackets were disciplined and clinical in the first two periods. Marchenko opened the scoring and extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 15:32 of the second period. Sean Monahan added a short-handed goal, scored 23 seconds later, at 3:27 — to make it 3-0. Mathieu Olivier completed the first two periods of work with a fourth goal off the rush at 11:54.
Leading 4-0 at the second intermission, Columbus had played exactly the kind of road hockey that wins games in the NHL. They were organised, they were opportunistic, and they had Elvis Merzlikins behind them making 26 saves to keep New York at arm’s length. A 4-0 lead heading into the third at any building, let alone at Madison Square Garden, is the kind of cushion that allows a visiting team to shift into a more conservative posture and play out the result.
What Happened in the Third
New York Rangers fans have watched their team lose five of six games since the Olympic break. What unfolded in the third period on Monday offered a brief, extraordinary window of what this Rangers team is capable of when they are fighting.
Gabe Perreault led the comeback: he scored twice and added an assist. The Rangers scored four times in the third period to pull level at 4-4. Madison Square Garden, one of the most atmospheric arenas in professional sport, reached the kind of volume that would have made visiting players acutely aware of what a remarkable collapse they were participating in.
The Blue Jackets held on. Not cleanly, not with any great authority in the third period, but they held on until overtime.
The Overtime Finish
Kirill Marchenko scored at 1:06 of overtime. His shot from the left face-off circle beat Igor Shesterkin, the puck deflecting off the Rangers’ netminder and finding the back of the net. It was Marchenko’s second goal of the game, his third point on the night along with the earlier assist. Charlie Coyle contributed two assists to Columbus’s victory.
The win completed one of the more chaotic NHL results of this stretch of the regular season. A four-goal lead surrendered. A four-goal comeback mounted. A 60-second overtime conclusion.
What It Means
For Columbus, Monday’s result is a genuine point of pride. The Blue Jackets won on the road at Madison Square Garden — one of the hardest environments in the NHL to earn two points — and they did so after holding their nerve through a third-period onslaught that would have broken less resilient teams.
For the Rangers, the numbers are now concerning. Five losses in six games since the Olympic break is a stretch that demands scrutiny. The ability to mount a four-goal comeback demonstrates that the talent is present in this group. The inability to hold a 4-0 lead — and the pattern of results that preceded this game — raises questions about structure and consistency that management will need to address as the playoff picture tightens.
Monday’s result changes the landscape for both clubs in meaningful ways. Columbus claimed points they needed. New York dropped two more they cannot afford to keep losing.
Statistics sourced from NHL.com, CBS Sports, and ESPN. Data correct at time of writing.
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