marc staal
Staal (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Quick note: GIFs for this game won’t be coming as they happen, as I won’t be getting home until 9pm. They will be up on newyorkrangersgifs.com starting around 9:30 or so.

After a thorough demolishing of the Devils, the New York Rangers will play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight as our Blueshirts look to take another step towards the President’s Trophy. Columbus may be out of the playoff race, but they are far from a pushover. They actually have a pretty solid team, but were decimated by injuries and it cost them this season.

Tonight is when the Steve McDonald Extra Effort Award will be handed out, and many expect Cam Talbot to be the runaway winner. Talbot was marvelous in his stint as the starter while Henrik Lundqvist was out, with a 20-9-4 record, a .94262 SV%, and a 2.21 GAA. He carried the Rangers in March when the offense dried up, and is one of the primary reasons why the Rangers are four points away from locking up the President’s Trophy.

After the award is handed out, the Rangers will have to move forward with the game at hand, and Columbus is pretty hot right now.

What have they done lately?

As noted above, the Jackets are on an absolute tear, going 9-1-0 in their last ten. This includes wins over the Penguins, Islanders, Blackhawks, Ducks, Blues, Flames, Red Wings, and Canucks. That’s one helluva run. Wow.

Interestingly enough, they are doing this with tanking possession numbers. Their ten-game rolling average below is trending down over that win streak. These charts are a bit difficult to decipher because they are so close in color, but the Jackets are the top line, the one that peaked early in the season. The Rangers line has some red in the middle, if that helps. I’m colorblind, so I have issues with this.

rangers blue jackets

Courtesy of war-on-ice

That said, they are getting absurd SPSV%/PDO driven success, which has been skyrocketing. CBJ is the team that started low and has seen a sharp uptick at the end of the chart.

rangers blue jackets

Courtesy of war-on-ice

That is driven by SV%, which is the major component of SPSV%/PDO. The Rangers have seen their upswing here drop back down to normal after peaking at around 97% (!!). The Rangers are the line that peaked at 97%.

rangers blue jackets

Courtesy of war-on-ice

Usually win streaks have absurd SH% runs, and CBJ is no different. That’s a huge spike in SH% over the last few weeks. The Rangers have seen one too, after watching their SH% tank from around 12%.

rangers blue jackets

Courtesy of war-on-ice

The Rangers seem to be running into teams when they are red-hot, having handed the Sens their only regulation loss since Hamburglar took over. Columbus is a better team when healthy though, so this will be another tough challenge.

Columbus 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.

Columbus Lines

Boone Jenner-Ryan Johansen-Cam Atkinson
Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Nick Foligno
Scott Hartnell-Alex Wennberg-Marko Danno
Matt Calvert-Mark Letestu-Jeremy Morin

Jack Johnson-David Savard
Fedor Tyutin-Dalton Prout
Kevin Connauton-Kevin Goloubef

PP1: Hartnell-Johansen-Wennberg-Foligno-Connauton
PP2: Atkinson-Dubinsky-Jenner-Johnson-Savard

PK: Anisimov, Calvert, Letestu, Wennberg, Johansen, Foligno, Dubinsky, Johnson, Savard, Prout, Tyutin

Sergei Bobrovky gets the start.

Rangers Lines

Chris KreiderDerek StepanRick Nash
Mats ZuccarelloDerick BrassardJ.T. Miller
Carl HagelinKevin HayesMartin St. Louis
Tanner GlassDominic MooreJesper Fast

Marc StaalRyan McDonagh
Keith YandleDan Girardi
Matt HunwickDan Boyle

PP1: Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Nash, Yandle
PP2: Miller, Hayes, Zuccarello, Boyle, McDonagh

PK: Stepan, Nash, Girardi, Staal, Moore, Fast, Hunwick, Boyle, Hagelin, Yandle, McDonagh

Henrik Lundqvist is in net.

Scratches/Injuries: Kevin Klein (arm), James Sheppard (healthy)

Crazy Prediction: Sheppard makes an Undertaker type return and Tombstone’s Schneider.

Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG.

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