Columbus Blue Jackets vs New York Rangers 17 October 2026 Prediction

The Columbus Blue Jackets vs New York Rangers matchup takes place in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have lost two straight, while the Rangers are coming off a 7-1 loss to New Jersey after a strong start to the season.

Columbus Has Lost Two Straight

The Blue Jackets won two of their first three games but have since lost twice, allowing 12 goals. They fell 5-3 at St. Louis before losing 7-3 at home to Florida. Columbus gave up four power-play goals against the Panthers.

Opponents have scored on 16.6% of their shots on goal against Columbus; only Calgary has allowed a higher rate. The Blue Jackets also give up a league-high two goals per second period. They are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Columbus Predicted Lineup: Greaves (Talbot) — Werenski, Severson — Nichushkin, Fantilli, Johnson

Other Roster Players: Defensemen: Mateychuk, Christiansen, Soucy, Gudbranson; forwards: Nies, Monahan, Garland, Sillinger, Coyle, Olivier, Lomberg, Heinen, Voronkov

Out: Fabbro, Lundestrom, Provorov (all injured)

Manager: Rick Bowness

Rangers Fell 7-1 to New Jersey

New York won six of its first eight games before losing 7-1 on the road to New Jersey. Igor Shesterkin was out injured. Both replacement goaltenders conceded goals, and the Rangers also allowed a shorthanded goal.

Despite that loss, New York remains in the top five of the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have scored on 13.7% of their shots on goal, the eighth-best rate in the league.

Rangers Predicted Lineup: Garand (Martin) — Gavrikov, Fox — Perreault, Zibanejad, Dorofeyev

Other Roster Players: Defensemen: Durzi, Pettersson, Schmitz, Schneider; forwards: Lafrenière, Miller, Cartier, Tolvanen, Laba, Cuylle, Bjorkstrand, Dowling, Chmelar

Out: Sykora, Korpisalo, Veleno, Shesterkin (all injured)

Manager: Mike Sullivan

Columbus Earned Points in All Three Recent Meetings

The Blue Jackets earned at least a point in all three meetings last season. In November 2025, the Rangers won 2-1 in a shootout in Columbus. The Blue Jackets won both meetings this March, 5-4 in overtime on the road and 6-3 at home. Adam Fantilli scored twice in the home win.

Key Stats

Columbus has lost the third period in each of its last four games.

The Rangers average 0.8 goals in the second period, ranking 26th in the league.

Columbus games average a combined 5.82 expected goals, the seventh-lowest mark in the league.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs New York Rangers Prediction: Blue Jackets Moneyline at 1.75

Main pick: Columbus has won four of its last six home games. The Rangers have lost three of their last four road games, scoring just four goals across those losses. The Blue Jackets also won the last two head-to-head meetings. The pick is the Blue Jackets moneyline at 1.75. Predicted score: 4-2.

Total goals pick: At least eight goals were scored in regulation in each of the last two meetings. Four of each team’s last six games have featured at least six goals. The pick is over 5.5 goals at 1.76.