The New York Rangers are back at MSG tonight to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, looking to make it two in a row, both against the Blue Jackets and overall, having beaten the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. The Blue Jackets have been completely decimated by injuries this season, and really aren’t as bad as their record. I think they’ve lost about 300 man games to injury, something to that effect.
The biggest injury they’ve had to deal with is Sergei Bobrovsky, who has missed about half the season with different injuries. That means Curtis McElhinney is in net for the Jackets, and while solid, he’s not the best backup in the world. Of course, Cam Talbot is in for the injured Henrik Lundqvist, but I’ll give the edge to the Rangers here. This is one of those games that the Rangers need to win to keep pace with the Isles, Pens, and Caps, who were/are all in action.
What have they done lately?
The Blue Jackets have been a .500 team most of the season, and their record in the last ten games (5-5-0) is indicative of that. As mentioned above, the Jackets have been decimated by injuries, and it has hurt their possession game. These types of injuries usually take its toll on their SPSV% (shot plus save %, previously known as PDO) as well, but we will see that’s not the case. First their USAT% (unblocked shot attempts, previously called Fenwick):
NYR are top line, trending up.
Now SPSV%:
NYR are the top line here, admittedly tough to follow.
CBJ actually doesn’t have a sharp decline, something you expect when there are goaltending issues. So, we look at the two components (SH% and SV%) individually to see if there are any underlying issues. First SV%:
NYR are the line that is less volatile.
McElhinney has actually been pretty strong lately, posting four games above .950 SV% in his last ten starts. That’s phenomenal. His line this year has a .918 SV%. Now SH%:
NYR trending way up, CBJ down.
Interestingly enough, CBJ has an above average even strength SH%. So despite their mediocre record, they are getting above average shooting. They are an interesting team, certainly capable of surprising the Rangers.
Blue Jackets Systems
Under Todd Richards, the Blue Jackets run a 2-1-2 forecheck, but with less active defensemen and a lot of dump and chase. In the DZ, CBJ uses a low zone collapse, taking out shooting lanes and protecting the house. On special teams, they run a 1-3-1 power play, and a box penalty kill.
Blue Jackets Lines
Scott Hartnell-Ryan Johansen-Alex Wennberg
Matt Calvert-Brandon Dubinsky-Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno-Artem Anisimov-Marko Dano
Corey Tropp-Mark Letestu-Jared Boll
Jack Johnson-David Savard
Fedor Tyutin-Cody Goloubef
Kevin Connauton-James Wisniewski
PP1: Foligno-Johansen-Hartnell-Johnson-Wisniewski
PP2: Atkinson-Dubi-Wennberg-Connauton-Savard
PK: Wennberg, Letestu, Anisimov, Foligno, Dubi, Johansen, Atkinson, Calvert, Johnson, Savard, Wisniewski, Tyutin
Curtis McElhinney gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Derek Stepan–Martin St. Louis
Chris Kreider–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin–Kevin Hayes–J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass–Dominic Moore–Lee Stempniak
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Kevin Klein
John Moore–Dan Boyle
PP1: McDonagh, Stepan, Nash, Brassard, Zuccarello
PP2: Boyle, Girardi, Kreider, Hayes, MSL
PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Klein, McDonagh, MSL
Cam Talbot is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Henrik Lundqvist (throat), Jesper Fast (leg), Matt Hunwick (healthy)
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7:30pm on MSG.
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