Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: Lineups, storylines as Blueshirts seek rebound
One team will be hoping to improve its prospects of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the New York Rangers visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, they’re not that team.
The Rangers (28-32-8) are last in the Eastern Conference and playing out the string – and they should have plenty of energy after a poor effort in a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Rangers were outshot (39-18), out-attempted (65-44) and pretty much out-everythinged by the Devils, who are all but assured of joining the Blueshirts on the golf course in mid-April.
“We weren’t good enough all night long,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We pushed in the third period, but it’s hard to win games when you only play a period.”
The Blue Jackets appeared headed for their sixth straight non-playoff season when the Rangers beat them 2-1 in a shootout in their last visit to Columbus on Nov. 15. Back then it was the Rangers who had visions of returning to the postseason after missing the playoffs last season.
But GM Don Waddell changed coaches on Jan. 13, firing Dean Evason and hiring 70-year-old Rick Bowness. The Jackets have been on fire since then, going 16-2-4 and barging into the playoff race. A win against the Rangers could leave them in the top eight by the end of the night.
Among the wins under Bowness was a 5-4 overtime victory at the Garden on March 2. The Rangers were down 4-0 after two periods but rallied to force overtime before losing on a goal by Kirill Marchenko.
Jonathan Quick made 33 saves against New Jersey and wasn’t to blame for the poor effort by his teammates.
“We weren’t physical enough,” captain J.T. Miller said, “and we turned the puck over too many times.”
Igor Shesterkin figures to be back in goal for a game the Rangers would like to win – but the Blue Jackets need to win. There could be a couple of other moves after third-line center Noah Laba (lower body) and third-pair defenseman Urho Vaakanainen (upper body) left with injuries.
Neither player made the trip to Columbus. The Rangers recalled defenseman Connor Mackey from AHL Hartford on Thursday morning.
3 storylines when Rangers visit Blue Jackets
1. PK problems continue
Even after consecutive home losses to the Los Angeles Kings and the Devils, the Rangers are 6-3-2 since play resumed after the Olympic break. That’s despite a penalty-killing unit that’s leaked like a sieve.
New Jersey went 2-for-4 on Wednesday, meaning that the Rangers have surrendered 11 power-play goals on 32 opportunities in that span. That’s dropped them to 25th in the League at 77.6 percent.
“It hasn’t been very good for a while now,” a not-pleased Sullivan said. “ A lot of it boils down to details — knowing your job and doing your job.”
2. Can Igor steal another one?
Shesterkin returned from injury after the break and has looked like his old self. He won four consecutive starts before a 4-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. His most impressive effort came on Saturday, when he stole a 4-2 win in Minnesota by making 46 saves against the Wild, one of the NHL’s elite teams.
While the Rangers are four games below the NHL’s version of .500, Shesterkin is 22-13-6 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. He’s ninth in GAA and seventh in save percentage among goaltenders who’ve played at least 30 games.
Shesterkin has enjoyed great success against the Jackets during his career (8-2-1, 1.73 GAA, .937 save percentage). He’ll have to be at his best against one of the NHL’s hottest teams.
3. Win or … ?
The Rangers are at the point of the season where they have to decide how much winning matters — as opposed to getting better odds for a higher pick in the first round of the draft in June while looking at some of their young players.
It’s not that the players on the ice or the coaches behind the bench don’t want to/won’t try to win. That’s a given. But at some point, the Rangers should want to get a longer look at their (admittedly thin) prospect base. For example, why play Quick, who played well but allowed six goals on 39 shots against the Devils, instead of taking a look at Dylan Garand, the No. 1 goaltender at AHL Hartford. Or give Brett Berard a serious look to see if he’s more than a 13th forward at the NHL level.
Doing that could answer some questions while potentially giving the Rangers a better chance at drafting an elite player – the type they haven’t found in the draft in years.
The Rangers are 29th in the NHL standings — but could drop as low as 31st if they play like they did against the Devils. That would give them a better shot at a player like Gavin McKenna (Penn State) or Ivar Stenberg (Swedish Hockey League) – generally regarded as the top two players available in June. The Rangers are in desperate need of top young talent; picking first or second would give them a better chance at getting a potential star.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Alexis Lafreniere — Mika Zibanejad — Gabe Perreault
J.T. Miller — Vincent Trocheck — Will Cuylle
Tye Kartye — Johnny Brodzinski — Conor Sheary
Taylor Raddysh — Adam Edstrom — Jaroslav Chmelar
Vladislav Gavrikov — Adam Fox
Will Borgen — Braden Schneider
Matthew Robertson — Vincent Iorio
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
When: Thursday, March 19 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Nationwide Arena
How to watch: MSG
