COLUMBUS, Ohio — This was always going to be about the response from Dylan Garand, about how the 24-year-old getting a chance to audition as the Rangers goaltender rebounded from the worst start of his career two days later.

There he was in the third period, with under seven minutes left in a scoreless game, sprawling across the crease to rob Cole Sillinger at the far post off the rush.

Access the Rangers beat like never before

There he was, just minutes later, snagging a Kent Johnson shot as the stakes kept elevating and the Blueshirts kept struggling to score at the other end of the ice. There he was, at the end of regulation and the start of overtime, helping them kill a penalty.

Garand passed his first 28 tests Saturday night until Johnson skated into a pass from Zach Werenski and scored the winner at the 3:26 mark of overtime in the Blueshirts’ 1-0 loss.

The more concerning trend for the Rangers involves their offense, with three failed power-play chances in the third period and a five-on-five drought dating back to the second period of Tuesday’s game — a stretch of seven frames.

They finished with 11 high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, but had just one in the third period and zero in overtime.

“Obviously, games like [Thursday] happen,” Garand said. “I think the best goalies — Carey Price, Henrik Lundqvist, Igor [Shesterkin], everyone’s been pulled. That stuff happens. I think you just learn from it and move on.”

This was the response the Rangers expected from Garand.

Head coach Mike Sullivan, as well as Garand’s teammates, didn’t blame him for what unfolded two nights ago at Prudential Center, when Garand allowed four goals on 13 shots — including two in 31 seconds in the second period — and was pulled in favor of Spencer Martin.

Two nights later, Garand looked like the version who impressed in his first starts after Shesterkin’s season-ending injury.

From a results standpoint, this was acceptable for the Rangers — a point on the road, where they went 1-3-0 to open the year — after their 7-1 embarrassment, too.

Garand said he let self-doubt creep into his game too much Thursday, but early in the first Saturday, he stopped Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli with a glove save. He flashed a glove save on a Werenski shot from the point later in the frame.

Then, in the second period when Columbus had an extra skater on ice due to a delayed penalty and at the end of the subsequent power play, Garand stopped Fantilli two more times, and he bailed the Rangers out on numerous other occasions down the stretch in regulation and at the start of overtime to give them a chance at breaking through.

“He’s a competitor,” J.T. Miller said of Garand, “and he wanted to be better. He gave us an awesome chance to win today. Made some really key saves at some good times, and he’s been great.”

That, more than the final result, will be something the Rangers can take forward with them. They can avoid a goaltending crisis in the present.

But they were sloppy with the puck in their own end for most of the night. The game only made it to overtime because of Garand, and he helped them kill nearly 90 seconds of 4-on-3 at the start. The more concerning emergence Saturday might’ve been that they didn’t generate much in the offensive end outside of a handful of chances.

The Rangers have scored just twice over their last seven periods, with one a power-play goal off a deflection and the other an empty-net goal.

Sullivan shuffled the top-six again, sliding Alexis Lafrenière back up to the first line with Perreault and Mika Zibanejad while slotting Pavel Dorofeyev with Miller and Tye Kartye on the second.

Zibanejad took a pass from Miller in front of the net with just under 15 minutes remaining in regulation, but Jet Greaves, who saved 29 shots in the shutout, stopped the shot.

Oliver Bjorkstrand also had a chance near the net at the end of a power play in the third period but missed.

For one night, Garand made those concerns of missed opportunities fade into the background — until Johnson spoiled it.

“I thought it was a huge response,” Sullivan said. “He was solid in there. … I thought he made timely saves for us.”