Preview: Buoyed by eighth straight win, Jackets go for ninth in New York

GAME 74: BLUE JACKETS (40-28-5) AT RANGERS (32-32-8)
Location:Madison Square Garden, 7 p.m., Tuesday
TV:Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go (Jeff Rimer, Jody Shelley); MSG Network
Radio:97.1 FM & BlueJackets.com (Bob McElligott)
They should probably be looking for a way to bounce back from a disappointing night in Boston, but things are just falling into place for the Blue Jackets right now.
Despite being outplayed by the Boston Bruins, and outshot 38-25, Columbus found another way to win Monday at TD Garden, coming back from two goals down and overcoming two blown leads to extend its season-high winning streak to eight straight with a 5-4 victory.
Now comes the hard part, a day later at Madison Square Garden in New York. After enjoying one of the most memorable victories of the season, the Jackets will try to make it nine in a row against the New York Rangers.
"You're not going to play your best every single night," said forward Cam Atkinson, who buried a wrist shot at 2:55 of overtime to defeat the Bruins on his 17th goal of the season. "What matters most is the end result and finding a way to win. It wasn't the prettiest [game], but it's huge for us. It was a huge two points."

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The Blue Jackets, who will conclude their final back-to-back of 17 on the schedule, moved back into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers at 85 points. Each team has nine games left, and the Flyers are clinging to third place in the Metropolitan Division over Columbus by a tiebreaker. Philadelphia has one more win in regulation and overtime (35-34), which is the lone reason the Blue Jackets are still occupying the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Columbus is also just two points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are second in the Metro at 87 points, and trail the division-leading Washington Capitals by only four points. The Blue Jackets moved three points ahead of the New Jersey Devils (82 points), who currently have the East's second wild card, and stayed six points ahead of the Florida Panthers - who've played three less games than both Columbus and Philadelphia.
"I think right now we're really finding out who we are," said defenseman Zach Werenski, who's played the past two games without injured defense partner Seth Jones. "We're finding out what kind of team we are and what kind of team we have to be in order to win."
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (2-1-0). This is the final game in the series, which the Blue Jackets can win with a victory. Columbus has won both games at Nationwide Arena, 3-1 on Oct. 13 and 2-0 on Nov. 17. The Rangers won, 5-3, Nov. 6 at Madison Square Garden.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 14-14-1-3 overall; 5-5-1-3 at Madison Square Garden
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets: Boone Jenner has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a career-high, six-game point streak and has scored a goal in four straight games; Atkinson has four goals in the past three games and 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in the past 12; Artemi Panarin has 18 points in the past 15 games (seven goals, 11 assists) and has logged points in 13 of them.
Rangers: Mika Zibanejad has scored two goals in each of the past two games and has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak. He has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his past seven games; Neal Pionk has six assists in a four-game point streak; Mats Zuccarello has scored five goals in the past four games.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE RANGERS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Nick Foligno - Cam Atkinson
Sonny Milano - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Boone Jenner - Alex Wennberg - Thomas Vanek
Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Mark Letestu
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Ryan Murray
Ian Cole - David Savard
Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others: Scott Harrington, Taylor Chorney, Lukas Sedlak, Markus Hannikainen, Seth Jones (upper body), Josh Anderson (knee), Dean Kukan
Injured reserve: None
RANGERS
Forwards
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Jesper Fast
Ryan Spooner - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey - Vladislav Namestnikov - Pavel Buchnevich
Cody McLeod - David Desharnais - Paul Carey
Defensemen
Brady Skjei - John Gilmour
Marc Staal - Neak Pionk
Rob O'Gara - Ryan Sproul
Goaltenders
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
Others: Peter Holland, Tony DeAngelo (ankle sprain)
Injured Reserve: Kevin Shattenkirk (meniscus tear, knee), Ondrej Pavelec (MCL sprain), Steven Kampfer (fractured hand)