Game Day #65: Final Meeting Of The Season Between Blue Jackets, Rangers Has Huge Playoff Implications

It's high-stakes hockey Saturday night at Nationwide Arena when the Columbus Blue Jackets host the New York Rangers in their fourth and final meeting of the season.

The two teams entered the day tied at 70 points and for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, a race that is almost certainly going to come down to the final day. Every point is critical, but this is one of those proverbial "four-point games" that are even more likely to have an impact on both teams as the season winds down.

Daniil Tarasov will get the start for the Blue Jackets and will be backed up by Jet Greaves, who was recalled Friday from the (AHL) Cleveland Monsters. Head coach Dean Evason said that Elvis Merzlikins is unavailable to the team as his wife is expected to give birth at any time.

This will be Tarasov's third start against the Rangers this season and second in less than a week. He's stopped 58 of 61 shots (.951 save percentage) in his first two, including his first career NHL shutout in a Jan. 18th game. The Blue Jackets lost that game 1-0 in a shootout, with Tarasov becoming the first player in league history to record a loss in his first shutout.

Here's what else to know when the Metro division rivals face-off:

• RE: BLUESHIRTS
  Igor Shesterkin is in net for New York. He's one of the best goalies in the league, but Shesterkin has been beatable lately. He's 1-1-2 in his last four starts and has allowed 11 goals in that stretch. His only start against Columbus this season was the 27-save shutout against Tarasov in January. ...  The Blueshirts lead the NHL with 13 shorthanded goals, two of which came against the Blue Jackets on Sunday. ... The Rangers can win on the road. They're 7-3-3 in their last 13 away from home and since Jan. 5th are ranked fourth in the NHL in road points.
   
• SPECIAL TEAMS MUST WAKE UP
  Thursday was another game where special teams could have made all the difference. The Blue Jackets had six minutes of power-play time — all in the first period — but came up empty. They're now 0-for-13 over their last five games and 2-for-31 over their last 18 games. Meanwhile, the penalty kill gave up a goal for the sixth time in seven games and the opposition is 8-for-25 (32%) over those games. 
   
• 200 FOR MARCHY
  Saturday will be the 200th career NHL game for Kirill Marchenko. He has 69 goals and 60 assists through the first 199, including career highs this season in all goals (25) and assists (37). Marchenko has at least 20 goals in all three seasons. Last season, he had both a goal and an assist in his 100th career game.
   
• LINEUPS CHANGES & PROJECTIONS:
  There are multiple changes to the lineup for Saturday night. Yegor Chinakhov comes back into the lineup and Christian Fischer comes out. Chinakhov is expected to be on the second line with Kent Johnson and Boone Jenner, which puts Mathieu Olivier back to the third line.
  
  Defensively, Jack Johnson comes into the lineup and will play with Damon Severson on the third pairing. Jake Christiansen left Thursday's game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. This will be the first game missed by Christiansen this season.
  
  Here are the complete lineup projections: