It’d be easy to point out the negative from last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Blue Jackets. It was another missed opportunity by the Rangers to pick up a win at Madison Square Garden. By virtue of gaining a point, they fell to 8-10-3 on home ice. Not good enough. At least they showed some character rallying from a 3-1 deficit to grab a point.

”It would’ve been nice to get that other point,” former Jacket Rick Nash said after scoring twice on the power play including the game tying goal at 6:55 of the third period. ”We’ve got to come out a lot better, and we can’t keep making mistakes that end up in the back of our net.”

Those mistakes included defensive lapses and a controversial Chris Kreider boarding major penalty. On two of Columbus’ three goals, there weren’t enough players back leaving plenty of time and space for them to victimize Henrik Lundqvist. Though he again allowed three goals or more for the 10th time in his last 11 starts, Hank made some big stops throughout. That included six in overtime when the Jackets peppered him. He robbed Cam Atkinson twice.

”I’m happy we got a point. We played well for 60 minutes,” Lundqvist said after finishing with 36 saves. ”The difference is I didn’t stop the breakaways and (Bobrovsky) did – one in the second and in the shootout. I have some work to do.”

In his return from injury, Bobrovsky was strong finishing with 40 saves. That included a glove save on Mats Zuccarello and a sprawling save on Nash in the shootout to clinch the victory for his team. On the flip side, Lundqvist allowed goals to Mark Letestu (glove) and Ryan Johansen (fancy 5 deke backhand tuck). Even on a night he wasn’t to blame, he didn’t get the win. That’s the kind of year it’s been.

As usual, Brandon Dubinsky was inspired by his visit against the Rangers. The ex-Blueshirt tipped home a James Wisniewski shot for a power play goal and later set up Wisniewski for a bomb that made it 3-1 late in the second. He also was physically involved with Kreider following a hit that injured another former Ranger Fedor Tyutin. The play came just 21 seconds into the middle stanza. Kreider came across from the side and finished a check on a prone Tyutin, who fell awkwardly into the glass. Dubinsky stood up for his teammate earning a rough. Replays showed that Kreider let up. Despite that, head referee Francis Charron assessed a major and game misconduct.

”I looked at the replay. He tried to stop just before,” Alain Vigneault asserted. ”It seemed like he stopped, and sort of a follow-through from their player. Anytime a guy gets pushed into the boards the way he did, the referees don’t have much of a choice.”

Vigneault is correct. It was a penalty. Even if I don’t agree with ejecting Kreider, Tyutin was vulnerable and injured. That factored in. The ironic part is Columbus didn’t score on the abbreviated three-minute power play. Instead, they took full advantage of an Anton Stralman turnover. Atkinson stole the puck and broke in from his own blueline and beat Lundqvist on a breakaway for his 11th unassisted.

Able to kill the penalty, the Rangers had their chances offensively. Especially Brad Richards. But he was snake bitten. On one flurry, he shot a point blank rebound right into a sliding Bobrovsky repeatedly. Through two periods, the Blueshirts one goal on 31 shots. They still trailed 3-1.

For a second straight game, they got a spark from an unlikely source. Brian Boyle rebounded home a Dominic Moore shot for his third cutting the deficit to 3-2 at 4:53 of the third. That’s two consecutive games for Boyle with a goal. Oddly enough, Mike Del Zotto also contributed an assist setting up Nash’s first PPG with under a minute left in the first. He was steady and more active.

With the Rangers still trailing by one, David Savard took a delay of game minor handing them a power play. Thanks to some good work off a faceoff win, Nash fired a shot that deflected past Bobrovsky for his second of the game. Ryan Callahan did some good work in front retrieving the puck to Brad Richards, who passed for Nash. He did the smart thing and shot from the point with Callahan screening. On Nash’s other power play tally, he took a similar approach using a Kreider screen to beat Bobrovsky. That’s what they need from him.

With three minutes remaining in regulation, the Rangers got a golden opportunity to win it when Corey Tropp tripped up Del Zotto. Despite some close calls, they couldn’t beat Bobrovsky. Zuccarello missed wide on a set up from Richards. Benoit Pouliot also missed.

In OT, Derek Stepan was called for a dubious trip on Wisniewski, who did a great acting job. A joke of a call with 1:10 left that saw Wisniewski purposely skate into Stepan and flop to the ice like a fish. Columbus created two chances for the speedy Atkinson but he couldn’t beat Lundqvist, who forced a shootout.

Unfortunately, both Letestu and Johansen solved Lundqvist while our shooters fired blanks. It allowed Columbus to win again at MSG.