PREVIEW: Blue Jackets, Rangers meet again

Sunday night, the Blue Jackets might have played their best game of the season.

Now they have to back it up.

We’ll get to that in a second, but let’s focus on what went well in Columbus’ 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. The Broadway Blueshirts entered on a 10-game winning streak and atop the NHL in points percentage, but Columbus never trailed in the victory.

More than that, it was a team effort that got the Jackets the win. The team’s top two lines were on the ice for all four CBJ goals, the Jackets won the special teams battle, goalie Elvis Merzlikins and the team defense shut the door down the stretch, and Mathieu Olivier electrified fans with his early scrap.

“That's what you aim for – do your job and do it right, and we’ll be fine,” head coach Pascal Vincent said. “Elvis was good. Special teams were good – (power play) scored a goal, PK, I think it's 10 in a row now that we haven't given up a goal. Our forecheck was right, our tracking was right, D-zone coverage. ... It was a real solid effort.”

The man of the hour couldn’t help but concur.

“That is sweet, that’s for sure,” Olivier said of the victory. “That was a good one. I think it was just overall a solid 60 minutes from us. We’ve had issues holding leads in the past, and today we figured out a way to do it. It definitely was a great growth moment for us.”

Now comes the hard part – doing it again. The Blue Jackets get the Rangers for a second game in a row, and you can bet it will be a New York team that will want to atone for its performance and the end of its long win streak Sunday.

Can the Blue Jackets handle that pressure and make it two in row against one of the league’s top teams?

"It's gonna be a good measuring stick for me to evaluate the mind-set and the maturity of our team," Vincent said.

Know The Foe: New York Rangers

Head coach: Peter Laviolette (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.32 (9th) | Scoring defense: 2.73 (6th) | PP: 24.9 percent (6th) | PK: 82.9 percent (4th)

The narrative: It’s going to be another 100-point season for the Rangers, who lead the Metropolitan Division thanks to their cadre of stars like forward Artemi Panarin, defenseman Adam Fox and goalie Igor Shesterkin. Last year’s first-round exit was disappointing, but in the first year under Laviolette, the Rangers consider themselves Stanley Cup contenders and are one of just two teams in the NHL along with Boston in the league’s top 10 in scoring, scoring defense, power play and penalty kill.

Team leaders: You won’t be surprised to find Panarin leads the way, as the former Blue Jackets is fifth in the NHL in points and seventh in goals with a 33-46-79 line. Three players follow who are close in scoring, as Vincent Trocheck has a 20-35-55 line, Chris Kreider remains one of the league’s best finishers with 29 goals among 54 points, and Mika Zibenejad has 19 goals and 54 points. Adam Fox is seventh among NHL defensemen in points with 47 (nine goals, 38 assists).

Shesterkin’s numbers aren’t quite the Vezina-winning stats he posted two years ago, but the Russian netminder is 25-12-1 with a 2.70 GAA and .909 save percentage while starting 38 games.

What's new: The Rangers’ forward group has suffered a couple of big blows with long-term injuries to Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the squad be active at the trade deadline. On the ice, New York outscored teams 41-19 during its 10-game winning streak, but the team’s defense has gotten a bit loose – Columbus became the fourth team in the last five games to notch at least 40 shots on goal. Rookie Matt Rempe’s pugilistic skills have taken the league by storm – will he and Olivier give it another go in MSG?

Trending: The Blue Jackets have points in all three games against the Rangers on the season, including two wins in Nationwide Arena and a shootout loss in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12. It’s a good turnaround, as coming into the season, the Blue Jackets had won just three of the past 10 matchups.

Former CBJ: Panarin leads the way, while Riley Nash played one game with the squad earlier this season. Then there’s goalie Jonathan Quick, who never played with the Jackets a year ago but was on the roster for a time. He’s 13-5-2 this season with a 2.45 GAA and .916 save percentage.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Yegor Chinakhov – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Alex Nylander
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratches: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration, out eight weeks as of Jan. 31), Alexandre Texier, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve: None

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets practiced with the same skater lineup Tuesday as in Sunday’s win and won't make any changes for the rematch.

3 Stats to Know

• After tallying Friday night, Dmitri Voronkov is only the second CBJ rookie to score at least nine goals in a 14-game span, joining Kirill Marchenko from a season ago. Voronkov is among NHL rookie leaders in goals (15, third) and points (30, fourth).
• With two assists Sunday night, Johnny Gaudreau notched his fourth multipoint game in the last seven contests (1-9-10). He now has 27 points in the last 27 games (4-23-27), 17 points in the last 15 (1-16-17) and 13 in the last 10 (1-12-13).
• Milestone watch: Jenner is set to become the first player in CBJ history to play 700 career games with the squad (188-167-355, 699 GP). ... Alex Nylander is set to play in his 100th career game (14-20-34, 99 GP). ... Sean Kuraly is three games from 200 for his CBJ career (34-31-65, 197 GP). ... Zach Werenski is five assists from 200 for his NHL career (83-195-278, 461 GP).

Who’s Hot

Boone Jenner has five goals and three assists in the last seven games since returning from the NHL All-Star Game and leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals. ... Jack Roslovic has seven points (2-5-7) in the last six games. ... The top line trio of Roslovic, Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau has outscored teams 10-3 at 5-on-5 the past six games. ... Kirill Marchenko has points in five of the last seven games (2-4-6). ... Daniil Tarasov has a .939 save percentage in his last two starts, stopping 62 of 66 shots against, while Merzlikins stopped 38 of 40 shots against Sunday. ... Yegor Chinakhov has collected a 4-5-9 line in his last 10 contests played and has totaled 12-11-23 over his last 28 games. ... The team’s rookie stat line of 29-37-66 is first in the NHL in goals and third in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 28, 2001: Steve Heinze scores his 20th goal of the inaugural season and Marc Denis stops Jeremy Roenick on the first penalty shot against the CBJ in franchise history as the Blue Jackets take a 5-2 win over Phoenix in Nationwide Arena.

Feb. 28, 2004: Jaroslav Spacek scores the third overtime power-play goal of his CBJ career – still a franchise record for OT PPG – as Columbus beats Colorado 5-4 in Nationwide Arena. David Vyborny ties a team record in the game with five points, scoring a goal and adding four assists, and Columbus wins for just the second time in 15 tries against the powerful Avs.

Feb. 28, 2019: Seth Jones notches his seventh overtime goal as a Blue Jacket to break Rick Nash's club career record in a 4-3 win over Philadelphia.

Feb. 28, 2023: Eric Robinson nets his first career hat trick and the Blue Jackets take a 5-3 win at Buffalo. Before the game, the Blue Jackets trade wing Gus Nyquist to Minnesota for a fifth-round pick.