After limping into the All Star Break, the Blue Jackets had a chance to rest and recover, but still lacked the services of both Markus Nutivarra and David Savard, while the Rangers were coming out with a fresh roster, looking to make up some ground in the Metro and possibly leapfrog Pittsburgh for the 3rd spot in the Metro.
The Rangers came out hard, drawing their first power play less than ten seconds into the game, but had absolutely no puck luck, while the Blue Jackets got just the bounces they needed to stay alive, until Seth Jones scored on Henrik Lundqvist with Columbus’ first shot of the game, and hung on to that slim lead through the period despite Joonas Korpisalo getting peppered by several sustained pushes by the home squad.