COLUMBUS, Ohio — This was always going to be about the response from Dylan Garand, about how the 24-year-old getting a chance to audition as the Rangers goaltender rebounded from the worst start of his career two days later.
And there he was in the third period, with under seven minutes left in a scoreless game, sprawling across the crease to rob Cole Sillinger at the far post off the rush.
There he was, just minutes later, snagging a Kent Johnson shot as the stakes kept elevating and the Blueshirts kept struggling to score at the other end of the ice.
There he was at the end of regulation, helping them kill a penalty.
Garand passed his first 30 tests Saturday night until Johnson scored the winner in the Blueshirts’ 1-0 loss in overtime.
The more concerning trend for the Rangers involves their offense, with three failed power-play chances in the third period and a 5-on-5 drought dating back to the second period of Tuesday’s game — a stretch of seven periods.
From a results standpoint, this was what the Rangers needed — a point on the road, where they went 1-3-0 to open the year — after their 7-1 embarrassment at Prudential Center.
But they were sloppy with the puck in their own end for most of the night, including some uncharacteristic plays from Adam Fox and Marcus Pettersson.
The game only made it to overtime because of Garand, and he helped them kill nearly 90 seconds of 4-on-3 at the start.
Early in the first, Garand stopped Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli with a glove save.
He flashed a glove save on a Zach Werenski shot from the point later in the frame.
Then, in the second period when Columbus had an extra skater on ice due to a delayed penalty and at the end of the subsequent power play, Garand stopped Fantilli two more times.
This was the response the Rangers expected from Garand.
Head coach Mike Sullivan, as well as Garand’s teammates, didn’t blame him for what unfolded two nights ago at Prudential Center, when Garand allowed four goals on 13 shots — including two in 31 seconds in the second period — and was pulled in favor of Spencer Martin.
Two nights later, Garand looked like the version who impressed in his first starts after Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury.
That, more than the final result, will be something the Rangers can take forward with them. They can avoid a goaltending crisis in the present.
The more concerning emergence Saturday might’ve been that they didn’t generate much in the offensive end, outside of a pair of Gabe Perreault chances to bookend the second period and a chaotic rush from the third line in the first — when Will Cuylle had a strong chance by the right post.
The Rangers have scored just twice over their last seven periods, with one a power-play goal off a deflection Thursday and the other an empty-net goal against the Lightning.
Head coach Mike Sullivan shuffled the top six again, sliding Alexis Lafrenière back up to the first line with Perreault and Mika Zibanejad while slotting Pavel Dorofeyev with J.T. Miller and Tye Kartye on the second.
But for one night, Garand made those concerns fade into the background — until Johnson played spoiler.
