Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: 3 things to watch for in pivotal finale before 4 Nations Face-off break
Since dropping 15 of 19 to fall out of playoff position in November and December, the New York Rangers are being forced to play catchup in a tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race.
For the most part, the Rangers improved their quality of play, but a few clunkers are starting to reappear. The latest was Friday, a 3-2 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin but still figured out a way to prevent the Rangers from getting two crucial points.
After the lifeless loss Friday, the Rangers (26-24-4) face a quick turnaround when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets (26-21-8), who are the first team below the wild-card line in he East with 60 points. Columbus holds a four-point lead over 12th-place New York, though the Rangers have a game in hand.
New York enters its final game before the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-off on a respectable 10-5-3 stretch in its past 18 games since its disastrous skid. The Rangers earned the bulk of their points when they were 7-0-3 from Jan. 5-23 but since then they are 2-4-0 in their past six, mixing in a pair of lopsided losses and a pair of one-goal setbacks, along with two rousing third-period comeback wins.
Columbus was on a six-game winning streak when Vincent Trocheck scored in the shootout to give New York a 1-0 win on Jan. 18 in their lone head-to-head matchup this season. Since that game, the Blue Jackets are 4-4-2 in their past 10 — with three of those wins coming in overtime.
Columbus has scored 177 goals, the most by any team holding a wild-card spot or below the cutoff. Columbus has been held to three goals or less in six straight games and eight times since last month’s winning streak.
The Rangers held Kiril Marchenko to one shot on goal last month, but the Blue Jackets will be without their most productive forward. Marchenko will miss his third straight game due to a broken jaw. He had a point in 12 of 14 games and 21 goals this season before being sidelined indefinitely.
The Rangers will have to contend with Zach Werenski, who is second in goals (17) among NHL defensemen and third in points (58). Only Cale Makar has more goals among defensemen — and the Rangers gave up two to him in their 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 26.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from 3-2 loss to Penguins
3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Blue Jackets
1. Produce on power play
The Blue Jackets are ranked 26th in penalty-killing at 75.3 percent though they are showing some improvement of late, holding opponents to 4-for-26 (15.3 percent) in the past 12 games. The Rangers were 0-for-1 in the previous meeting and are 6-for-24 in their past nine games. On Friday, the Rangers got both of their power plays in the final 10 minutes of the third but mustered one shot on goal while seldom spending time in the offensive zone.
Overall, the Rangers have been successful on 20.6 percent of their power plays, including an 11-for-62 showing in their first 26 road games. The Rangers also are 13-18-1 this season when not scoring a power-play goal. It would behoove them to get the PK rolling Saturday.
But Columbus has held opponents to one goal in the last 14 power-play chances over its past six home games. Overall, the Blue Jackets are killing off 78.5 percent (14 of 65) of opposing power plays on home ice.
2. Better effort
Coach Peter Laviolette was massively displeased with the effort and his postgame press conference lasted all of 35 seconds. Through the first two periods, the Rangers were outshot 26-17 and the Rangers were held to 24 shots on goal total. It was the first time they mustered fewer than 25 in consecutive games since their 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 22 and their 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils the following day.
The Rangers pulled off third-period comebacks in their previous two games when they scored a combined five goals to beat the Vegas Golden Knights and Boston Bruins. The Rangers outshot the Penguins 7-0 but only three were within 20 feet of the net and according to NaturalStatTrick they only had four high-danger chances out of 23 scoring opportunities
The Rangers are 4-7-0 when being held to fewer than 25 shots on goal. The only time they scored more than three goals in those games was a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 9.
New York is coming off a showing when it had 23 shots blocked and committed 17 giveaways, including four by Artemi Panarin.
Simply, they can not afford another n-show effort against the Blue Jackets.
3. Scoreboard watching
The Rangers will get a slightly better idea where they stand in the wild-card chase before the opening face-off Saturday since the Montreal Canadiens (25-24-5) and Detroit Red Wings (28-21-5) are playing the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning respectively in afternoon games. Montreal trails the Rangers by one point while Detroit holds the second wild card spot and has a five-point lead on the Rangers.
Another game for the Rangers to monitor is the Boston Bruins at home against the Vegas Golden Knights. Boston leads the Rangers by four points.
The New York Islanders, who lead the Rangers by one point, are visiting the Minnesota Wild after losing to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
The final game for the Rangers to monitor involves the Ottawa Senators visiting the Florida Panthers. Ottawa holds the first wild-card spot and has a six-point lead on the Rangers.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – J.T. Miller – Zibanejad
Smith – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Kreider – Brodzinski – Cuylle
Vesey – Carrick – Rempe
Lindgren – Fox
K. Miller – Borgen
Jones – Schneider
Quick
Garand
Rangers vs. Blue Jackets: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
When: Saturday Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Nationwide Arena
How to watch: MSG
More About:New York Rangers News