Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg each scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets jumped past the Rangers into third place in the tight Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 win at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The Blueshirts, who were playing their fourth game in six nights and had played three consecutive games in either overtime or a shootout, lost much of their speed and structure against the Blue Jackets, who had torched the Islanders on Saturday, 7-0, and slid into the first wild-card spot in the East.
At 40-20-2, the Rangers are one point behind Columbus, which won three of the five games between the teams this season.