It had to end some time. After holding off the Flyers on Saturday to tie the franchise record winning streak at 10, the Rangers saw it halted by the Blue Jackets on Sunday night at Columbus.

Nobody wins them all. That’s why you still have to play who’s on the schedule. For the second time this season, the Rangers lost to the Blue Jackets on the road – falling to Columbus 4-2.

It was their first defeat since Jan. 26. Ironically enough, they won the following night at Ottawa to start the 10-game win streak. In another cruel twist, the Rangers had their perfect 9-0 record in the second game of back to backs end.

Defensive mistakes prove costly

The biggest story of the game was the defensive mistakes the Rangers made in the loss. They committed too many, which proved costly.

Although they’re not a playoff contender, the Blue Jackets compete hard and have a lot of speed and skill. That much was obvious throughout the game. They used their quick transition well to score three goals in a momentum shifting second period.

Astonishingly, the Rangers were credited without a single turnover. Even if that were true (which it’s not), they were caught out of position on all three Columbus goals during a disappointing second that decided the contest.

They were outscored 3-1 and outshot 14-8. In particular, the defensive pair of K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba got victimized. Both defensemen struggled mightily. On all three Blue Jackets’ goals, they were caught on. It wasn’t pretty.

By the third period, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette made a change to his defense. Ryan Lindgren worked with Trouba while Braden Schneider got to play with Miller. Erik Gustafsson saw some time with Adam Fox.

That wasn’t the only change Laviolette made. Unsatisfied with how the top line played, he mixed things up. At one point, Chris Kreider was down to the third line with Jonny Brodzinski and Kaapo Kakko. Kakko saw some time on the left wing with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. Mika Zibanejad played with Artemi Panarin and, at times, Lafreniere.

Rempe Fights Again

As if a broken record, Matt Rempe got into another fight again. Just over two minutes in, Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier challenged him to a scrap.

This time, the bigger Rempe was pummeled by the more accurate Olivier, who gave up six inches in the hockey fight. The 27-year-old used his experience to land the decisive shots, even knocking down Rempe by the conclusion.

Despite going to the locker room to get checked out, Rempe would return before the first period ended. The cult hero again made an impact later on.

Jackets Grab an Early Lead

Only two and a half minutes into the game, Trouba was sent off for holding Justin Danforth. With the penalty set to expire, the Jackets grabbed an early lead.

On a play started by Damon Severson along the right wall, he moved the puck to Kirill Marchenko. He then wheeled it in front for an easy finish from Dmitri Voronkov, who scored his 16th goal of the season at 4:34.

Initially, they ruled it an even strength goal. However, it was later changed to a power-play goal. That kept Trouba from being a minus-four. He was returning from the penalty box when the goal was scored.

Panarin Ties it With New Career High

In a period that was wide open, both teams got their scoring chances. For the most part, it was Jonathan Quick and Elvis Merzlikins who got it done in their respective nets.

Quick made his first start since Feb. 15. He didn’t show any rust. Despite his defense leaving him out to dry, Quick had a good game by finishing with 37 saves on 41 shots. That included stopping 15 of 16 in a busy opening period.

On the flip side, Merzlikins played well for the Blue Jackets. Although he didn’t face as many uncontested chances, Merzlikins played a strong game. He was at his best making 18 of his 38 saves in the third period.

With Columbus still leading in the first, Panarin victimized his former team to set a new career high in goals. On the play, he took a Fox pass down low and then surprised Merzlikins by shooting high to the short side inside the near goalpost for a new personal best 33rd goal of the season.

That allowed the Rangers to be tied after a period. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last long. 

Marchenko Puts Jackets back Ahead

At the start of the second period, it only took one shift for the Blue Jackets to retake the lead. Marchenko put them back ahead just 18 seconds into the period.

On some good passing from Yegor Chinakhov and Voronkov, they combined to get the puck to a wide open Marchenko, who beat a helpless Quick to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead.

Neither Miller nor Trouba were where they were supposed to be on the goal. Things only got worse for both.

For most of the period, it was the Blue Jackets using their team speed to pin the Rangers in their zone. They were more aggressive on the forecheck and looked dangerous.

There were too many instances when the Rangers ceded the blue line, which allowed the Jackets to enter their zone easily and set things up. Even during the latter stages of their win streak, this was the case in recent wins over the Stars and Flyers. Despite getting outplayed, they won thanks to the superb play of Igor Shesterkin.

Edstrom Ties It Up

Still trailing by one, the Rangers got a spark from their new fourth line. On a sustained forecheck in the Blue Jackets’ end, Rempe got the puck to Adam Edstrom at the left circle.

With Rempe directly in front of Merzlikins, Edstrom had his shot go off the skate of Columbus defenseman Jake Bean and in to tie it up.

On the first replay, it actually looked like Rempe had another goal. However, another replay showed that Edstrom’s shot went off Bean’s skate. It was another example of how Rempe put himself in a good position to make life difficult for an opposing goalie. That hard work is why the goal was scored.

Miller Gets Burned on Roslovic Go-ahead Tally

Just when it looked like they finally had some momentum, the Blue Jackets came right back to retake the lead. It took only 46 seconds for Jack Roslovic to score the go-ahead tally.

On it, Miller got burned. After getting caught pinching in the Blue Jackets’ zone, he began to skate back into the play. However, he stopped skating. That allowed Johnny Gaudreau an easy passing lane to find the trailing Roslovic, who buried an open wrist shot to make it 3-2.

It was inexplicable why Miller stopped skating. It almost looked like he gave up. That’s a harsh assessment. It’s hard to explain what happened on the Roslovic goal, which wound up being the game-winner. Only Trouba was back to defend a two-on-one by himself.

That goal was a crusher. It halted the Rangers’ momentum.

Provorov Tacks on Another late

A couple of minutes after they successfully killed off a Trouba penalty, the Blue Jackets took advantage of another defensive breakdown to double up their lead.

Ivan Provorov tacked on another goal late in the second period. After getting caught deep in the Rangers’ zone, he recovered nicely to become the trailer on another odd man rush.

With both Miller and Trouba scrambling back while all three forwards were trapped, Gaudreau and Roslovic combined to find Provorov wide open in the slot for a wrist shot past Quick that made it 4-2 with 1:25 left.

As it turned out, that was the nail in the coffin. Perhaps playing their first back-to-back in a month was too much to ask. During their franchise record-tying 10-game win streak, the Rangers only played consecutive games once when they beat the Senators on Jan. 27. The schedule in February had been spaced out.

Blueshirts Unable to beat Merzlikins in Third

Despite picking up their play, the Blueshirts were unable to beat Merzlikins in the third period. As usual, they never gave up. But even a mixed bag of lines couldn’t get the one goal they needed to make things interesting.

When he finally was called upon to make the big saves, Merzlikins delivered for the Blue Jackets. For a goalie who reportedly wants to be moved, he played well. There were some key stops in crunch time on Panarin and Zibanejad when Quick was pulled for a six-on-four late in regulation.

It wasn’t their night. Afterward, Laviolette didn’t make any excuses. Neither did Kreider, who, along with Zibanejad, was shut down for a second straight game. If they are to make it a special season, so much will depend on both Zibanejad and Kreider. Neither have been good enough at even strength.

Whatever Rangers team president and general manager Chris Drury decides before the Mar. 8 trade deadline, it’s up to Zibanejad and Kreider to improve their overall play. Even if they add a scoring right wing, who can aid them, they need to be better this spring.

Pretty soon, the weather will be warming up. We’re going to have some better days this week. Take advantage. The rematch against the Blue Jackets isn’t until Wednesday, Feb. 28.