COLUMBUS, Ohio — The special teams battle was up for grabs Thursday night.

A surplus of penalties led to ample power-play time for both the Rangers and the Blue Jackets, but the latter still prevailed in a 6-3 win that pushed Columbus into playoff position in third in the Metropolitan Division and extended their point streak to 11 straight games.

The refs may have been a tad whistle happy.

At least one penalty was questionable, when Tye Kartye was penalized for a high stick that was really a puck to the face.

But the Blueshirts have not been the most disciplined team as of late.

Boone Jenner celebrates a goal during the Blue Jackets’ 6-3 win over the Rangers on March 19, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. Imagn Images

“The high-sticking one is hard, to the ref’s defense,” coach Mike Sullivan said after the loss. “The stick is high, it goes to the puck. That happens fast and they got to make a call on it. It’s not a high stick. The puck hits it. But I understand their circumstance. You got to keep your stick down. We took a lot of penalties that we don’t need to. We’ve got to do a better job with our discipline, with our stick. I think when we were in more a mindset of being physical and getting our noses over pucks, we’re not playing at the end of our sticks. I think we tend to take less penalties. We bring more physicality to the game. I think we’re harder to play against, and we tend to take less penalties.”

In March, the Rangers’ 62.5 penalty kill percentage entering Thursday’s game was the worst in the NHL.

Naturally, Vladislav Gavrikov was called for hooking just 45 seconds into the game.

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin came up with seven saves on the Blue Jackets power play, on the way to 31 total on the night, but it was indicative of how much the group has been struggling while shorthanded.

A too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty against the Rangers put the Blue Jackets back on the power play at the 14:29 mark of the second period. Adam Fantilli scored his first of two goals — the second into an empty net — to help Columbus finish 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Rangers managed to cut it to one 50 seconds into the third period on a power play they earned at the end of the second, when Alexis Lafrenière backhand tipped an Adam Fox shot from the top of the zone for the 4-3 score.

During 4-on-4 play, however, Damon Severson cleaned up a rebound in front to regain the two-goal lead for Columbus.

“Slow start with the penalty,” Adam Fox said. “Shesty made some huge saves there. But, you know, special teams could have done a better job, for sure. We got the goal, but didn’t get too much momentum from our power play. I think we have to do a better job in that third, getting more pucks at the net, getting more traffic. We didn’t really challenge them enough to put ourselves in a position to come back.”

Igor Shesterkin makes a save as Matthew Robertson defends during the Rangers’ March 19 loss. Imagn Images

Rookie Noah Laba and veteran defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who were both injured in the Rangers loss to the Devils on Wednesday, did not accompany the Blueshirts to Columbus.

They remained in New York to be further evaluated for a lower-body injury and an upper-body injury, respectively.

As a result, Connor Mackey made his season debut and drew into the Rangers lineup for the first time since a back-to-back slate in mid-December 2024.

Gabe Perreault defends during the Rangers’ March 19 loss to the Blue Jackets. NHLI via Getty Images

He lined up on the third pairing with Will Borgen.

After his power-play goal Thursday, Lafrenière reached the 20-goal benchmark for just the second time in his six seasons with the Rangers.

“Laf’s playing well for us right now,” Sullivan said. “He’s put a pretty good stretch of games together. He’s hanging on to pucks. He’s challenging people 1-on-1 down low. He’s getting inside at the net. How many goals has he got by the blue paint? Whether it’s on the power play or 5-on-5, and that’s where the goals are scored.”

Read the expert take on the Blueshirts

Sign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.

Thank you

The Rangers are expected to have the day off on Friday before returning to game action Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden against the Jets.