Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Rangers

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. RANGERS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 24-46-8, 8th in Metropolitan
NEW YORK: 46-21-12, 3rd in Metropolitan
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 p.m. ET
5th Line Celebration Night
BROADCAST INFO
TV:
Bally Sports Ohio
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Bally Sports Plus
AUDIO:
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CBJ Player Statistics
Rangers Player Statistics
NHL Standings
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What They're Saying

The reality is there are a lot of teams having trouble hanging with the Devils of late, including the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom the Devils raced away from in a 5-1 victory earlier this week.
The reality also is the Blue Jackets are severely limited in manpower, with 11 of the 20 CBJ players who saw the ice in New Jersey's 8-1 victory Thursday night having played less than 100 NHL games.
But all of those players believe they are full-time NHLers or should be, so no matter what the injury situation is, it didn't feel too good when the Devils completed the sweep of the season series with Thursday night's runaway victory.
"It's a team that's had our number this year," Kuraly said. "For us, not a lot of positives in that one. I think that's the tough part. We know we are down men, but we have guys in here we think are capable. Having a showing like that is disappointing."
Things gradually grew from bad to worse as the game went on. Columbus was just in a 1-0 hole through 20 minutes and scored a goal to make it 3-1 in the second, and at the same time the Blue Jackets got a power play to try to cut further into the New Jersey lead. Instead, the Devils killed the penalty, got a power-play goal of their own late in the second and then pulled away in the third.
It speaks to just how on their game the Blue Jackets have to be for 60 minutes with the current roster on hand.
"Through two we were OK," head coach Brad Larsen said. "We got the one there. They challenge it; it would have been nice to get the second one on the power play. They get the fourth one there, then it just got away from us. We were way too lose and they got a couple there, and we looked like a deflated group giving up a little bit too much there."

Know The Foe: New York Rangers

Head coach:Gerard Gallant (Second season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.35 (10th) | Scoring defense: 2.67 (5th) | PP: 23.9 percent (8th) | PK: 80.7 percent (14th)
The narrative:Whomever comes out of the Eastern Conference will have to survive a gauntlet, but one would be wise not to discount the Rangers. A finalist in the East a season ago, New York beefed up its offense at the trade deadline with the acquisitions of Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Kane and already boasted one of the best defenses in the league, especially if goalie Igor Shesterkin is playing at a high level. This squad looks like it will be a tough out in the spring.
2022-23 leaders:There's no shortage of star power on Broadway, and it starts with a familiar face. Artemi Panarin leads New York in scoring this year and is 16th in the league with a 26-63-89 line that looks a lot like his two years in Columbus. Mika Zibanejad follows with a team-best 39 goals among his 87 points to place 12th in the league in tallies, while Adam Fox has followed up his Norris campaign with a 12-59-71 line. Vincent Trocheck's first year in New York has been solid with 21 goals and 62 points, while Chris Kreider adds 35 tallies.
In net, Shesterkin hasn't quite had the same year he did a season ago on the way to the Vezina win, but he's still one of the top 10 goalies in the league statistically with a 36-13-7 record, 2.53 GAA and .914 save percentage.
What's new:The Rangers are trending the right direction at the moment with points in 14 of the last 16, including an 11-2-3 record in that time span. New York is outscoring teams 59-34 in that time, and the Rangers are getting solid contributions from deadline acquisitions Tarasenko (8-11-19 in 28 games), Kane (5-5-10 in 16 games, though he missed the last game with a lower-body injury) and Tyler Motte (5-4-9 in 21 games). The best news, though, might be Shesterkin's .929 save percentage in his last 14 games.
Trending: The teams split the first two games on the docket, with Columbus taking a 5-1 win in MSG early in the season before the Rangers won 3-1 in Columbus. The Rangers then defended home ice with a 6-2 victory March 28.
Former CBJ:Panarin and Motte, who rejoined the team after being acquired from Ottawa, lead the way, while the Rangers have found a regular shift for veteran defenseman Ben Harpur, who was with the Jackets during training camp.

3 Keys to the Game

Play from ahead: The Blue Jackets have learned lately that trying to catch up to some of the best teams in the league is folly. Getting a lead is huge for momentum and confidence purposes.
Tooth and nail: Still depleted by injuries, the Blue Jackets have to play a team game and fight for ice to be successful.
Youthful exuberance: The Blue Jackets have been led in many ways by rookies, so getting those players on the board is a key to success.

3 Stats to Know

• Kirill Marchenko has 21 goals and four assists on the season, making him the only CBJ player in history to score at least 15 times in a season with less than 10 assists. Only one player in the NHL's modern era -- Florida's Brandon Pirri, with 22-2-24 in 2014-15 -- has finished a season with at least 20 goals and only four assists, per Hockey Reference.
• Johnny Gaudreau posted his 20th multipoint game of the season Sunday and has a 4-12-16 mark in the last 14 games.
• Milestone watch: Joona Luoto notched his first career goal Thursday. … Luoto, Justin Richards, Jet Greaves and Jon Gillies all made their CBJ debuts in the past week, making them the Nos. 326, 327, 328 and 329 players in team history. … Marchenko passed Pierre-Luc Dubois' CBJ rookie record with his 21st goal of the season Sunday. … Boone Jenner (170-159-329) is six points from surpassing Nick Foligno (142-192-334) for third most in Blue Jackets history. … Goalie Michael Hutchinson is one game from 150 for his NHL career.

Who's Hot

With goals in two of the last three games, Eric Robinson has a career-high 12 on the season. … Gaudreau is the fourth player in team history with at least 50 assists in a season, joining Panarin (twice), Ray Whitney and Jakub Voracek. … Jack Roslovic had a career high-tying six-game point streak (4-4-8) snapped Thursday. … Marchenko's 21 goals are tied for second in the league among rookie goal scorers with Wyatt Johnston of Dallas, two behind Matty Beniers of Seattle. … Kent Johnson has 3-8-11 in the last 15 games, and his 16-24-40 line places him in the top 10 in team history among rookies in goals (tied for fourth), assists (fourth) and points (third). He ranks tied for fifth in the NHL in goals and is fourth in points among rookies. … Columbus is first in the NHL in goals among rookies with 52 and second to Montreal in points with 110. … Andrew Peeke, who ranks fourth in the NHL in blocked shots with 187, has surpassed Ryan Murray (171 in 2015-16) for the most blocked shots in a single season in club history (since 2005-06).

This Day in CBJ History

April 8, 2001: Tyler Wright scores 2:41 into overtime to give the Blue Jackets the third OT victory of their inaugural season, a 4-3 triumph against Chicago at Nationwide Arena in the final game of the year. With his 22nd win, Ron Tugnutt set an NHL record for victories in net for a goalie on an expansion team.
April 8, 2009: Rick Nash's goal at 14:30 of the third period erases a 3-2 Chicago lead and forces overtime, resulting in the Blue Jackets clinching the first playoff berth in franchise history. Fedor Tyutin's shootout goal serves as the game winner as the Jackets beat the Blackhawks 4-3 at United Center.
April 8, 2014: Ryan Johansen scores in overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory at Nationwide Arena over Phoenix -- and push the Blue Jackets closer to clinching the second playoff spot in franchise history.
April 8, 2022: The Blue Jackets sign 2021 first-round pick Kent Johnson as well as University of Michigan teammate Nick Blankenburg to contracts.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Boone Jenner - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Jack Roslovic - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Liam Foudy
Joona Luoto - Hunter McKown - Trey Fix-Wolansky
Gavin Bayreuther - Andrew Peeke
Tim Berni - Adam Boqvist
Marcus Bjork - David Jiricek
Michael Hutchinson
Jon Gillies
Scratches:Lane Pederson (upper body, day to day), Patrik Laine (triceps strain, out two to four weeks as of March 24); Nick Blankenburg (ankle, week to week); Mathieu Olivier (lower leg bone bruise, out 2-4 weeks as of March 27); Erik Gudbranson (separated shoulder, out six weeks as of March 27); Elvis Merzlikins (lower body, day to day)
Injured reserve:Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:The Blue Jackets recalled Luoto, Fix-Wolansky, Jiricek and Bjork for today's game after the quartet helped Cleveland to a key win last night. They'll enter the lineup while Hutchinson starts in net.