After facing a stiff test in the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Columbus Blue Jackets face off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers have been reeling to start the year and are facing an uphill battle. Henrik Lundqvist hasn't been his normal self and the team itself is missing the offensive punch of years past.
Is it possible that they break through against a Metropolitan Division rival?
John Tortorella Pre-Game
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Artemi Panarin | 14 GP, 1-10-11 | 71 | Nick Foligno | 14 GP, 3-5-8 | 77 | Josh Anderson | 12 GP, 5-3-8 |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 7 GP, 2-3-5 | 17 | Brandon Dubinsky | 14 GP, 1-3-4 | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 14 GP, 4-5-9 |
| 64 | Tyler Motte | 3 GP, 2-0-2 | 10 | Alexander Wennberg | 14 GP, 1-8-9 | 37 | Markus Hannikainen | 6 GP, 2-1-3 |
| 22 | Sonny Milano | 13 GP, 5-3-8 | 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 14 GP, 1-2-3 | 36 | Zac Dalpe | 9 GP, 0-0-0 |
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 14 GP, 4-5-9 | 3 | Seth Jones | 14 GP, 3-8-11 |
| 7 | Jack Johnson | 13 GP, 1-3-4 | 58 | David Savard | 14 GP, 2-3-5 |
| 27 | Ryan Murray | 14 GP, 1-2-3 | 65 | Markus Nutivaara | 9 GP, 0-5-5 |
| # | Player | GS | W-L-OL | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Sergei Bobrovsky | 11 | 8-2-1 | 2.23 | .927 | 1 |
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 3 | 1-2-0 | 3.67 | .887 | 0 |
Three Storylines
- Check The Infirmary: The injuries are beginning to pile up a little bit for the Blue Jackets. Cam Atkinson was retroactively put on IR and Matt Calvert is out 3-4 weeks with an upper-body injury. Gabriel Carlsson is ready to return while Lukas Sedlak is going to be out for a while. It's a revolving door of players and will be interesting to see if the team has enough depth to keep up.
- Miller Time: There haven't been many bright spots for the New York Rangers thus far, but one of the best parts about the team right now is the emergence of J.T. Miller. He has 11 points in his last 10 games and this past Thursday scored the game-winning goal against Tampa. He is a player that could be written off as depth before but now he is a player to target when he is on the ice.
- Red Rover: The Blue Jackets have been talking about the concept of the "rover" over the past few games, and Zach Werenski and Seth Jones have scored in bunches during that time, Werenski with a handful of points and Jones with a multi-point night. Can they do that against their rivals or will the game tighten up in a different environment?
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