Welcome to another Saturday edition of NHL Predictions, with us here at Last Word On Hockey. The New York Rangers have finally begun to play up to expectations, winning their last two games, including their first home win of the season. The Rangers scored six or more goals in both games. They look to continue that success against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are also winners of two straight.
2025-26 Season Series: First game this season (2024-25 Rangers 2 – Blue Jackets 2)
How To Watch TV: ESPN+, Fubo, FDSNOH, MSG
Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
Matchup Overview
The New York Rangers have been on fire recently, and look like the favoured team coming into this game. The Rangers offence has exploded recently thanks to the return of Vincent Trocheck, who scored his first two goals of the season against the Lightning. Artemi Panarin seems to be getting back into his usual form, and the surprising success of William Cuylle on New York’s top power play line has the Rangers playing with a lot of confidence. The recent callup Gabriel Perreault gives the Rangers a solid second line on the power play as well. Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin played a strong game against Tampa Bay as well, making 33 saves on 36 shots. If everything keeps falling into place for the Rangers, they could be a tough team to take down.
Foxy with the shot + Cools cleans it up. 🧹 pic.twitter.com/P2nraQWFzp
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 13, 2025
But, Columbus is no slouch either. The Blue Jackets just defeated the struggling Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Thursday as they look to recover from a four-game losing streak. Kirill Marchenko has been the top performer for the Blue Jackets so far this season, scoring 19 points in 17 games. Marchenko is not their only threat offensively, with the ever-dangerous, and Team USA Olympic front-runner Zach Werenski patrolling the blueline. Charlie Coyle, Dmitri Voronkov, and Adam Fantilli round out their offence with a core of young and talented players. However, the youth of Columbus makes them inexperienced at dealing with heavy pressure, which is the Rangers’ forte.
MO GOALS MEAN MO CELLYS! 💥
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/gPB9tZ1Usy
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 14, 2025
Who Has the Edge?
The Rangers are coming in as the slight favourites, which makes sense considering where both teams are in the standings. The Rangers are older and more experienced, nearing the end of their plausible Stanley Cup window. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets are nearing the beginning of their own cup window. Goaltending play will be a huge factor in this game. Columbus has been swapping between Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves in net. Greaves has the hot head right now, starting three in a row and winning two of them. If Greaves can stay hot, Igor Shesterkin will need to match that play. Shesterkin hasn’t been playing to his usual standards, holding a 6-6 record this season with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. Not bad by any means, but one would expect an $11 million per year goaltender to play a little better.
Overall though, we think the Rangers have a better team, and should have the edge in this one. Columbus is a sneaky good team though, and New York will need to stay vigilant on defence to keep Columbus from running away with the game. The Rangers have been dominating on the road this season with an 8-1-1 record. The Blue Jackets have been average at home this year, with a 4-3-0 record so far.
Final score prediction: Rangers 6-3 Columbus
With how the Rangers have been playing offensively so far, we don’t think Columbus’s average defence will be able to handle New York. Greaves has been playing well, but we think the Rangers will simply be too much for him to handle. On the other side, Shesterkin should be able to keep Columbus off the scoreboard enough to keep the Rangers in solid control of the game from puck drop. Expect a high scoring, thrilling affair in this one with a lot of chances on both sides of the ice.
A good prop bet for this one is Adam Fox to find his way on the scoresheet. The cerebral defenceman has been having a quietly good season, scoring 15 points in 18 games. Fox had two assists against the Lightning, and as New York’s number one defenceman, he should get several in this one. William Cuylle has been on a heater the past few games, and as long as he sticks on the top power play line, pencil him in for a point tonight. For Columbus, Kirill Marchenko has been on a tear this year, and he is also on a 10-game point streak. Unsurprisingly, Marchenko will probably find his way to extend that streak to 11. Adam Fantilli is also on a points streak, and him heating up could be a sign of a multi-point game tonight.
Main Photo Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images
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