In a game with massive playoff implications, the New York Rangers took on the Columbus Blue Jackets in both teams’ last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Because even after taking a 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, the Blueshirts still lost four of their final seven games and will certainly have their work cut out for them in a 27-game sprint to the regular-season finish line when they return from the nearly two-week pause.

As Werenski noted, it’s also important to keep pace in the standings as the Blue Jackets push to end a four-season playoff drought. Columbus has lost three games in a row after Thursday night’s 3-2 overtime loss against Utah, moving the Blue Jackets to a point behind Detroit for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.