The Rangers won the season opener in Chicago, spoiling their Stanley Cup ceremony in the process. Tonight they are in Columbus Blue Jackets team that had a very impressive offseason. Landing Brandon Saad from the Hawks was an instant offense booster, and he will join a young team loaded with talent. They have some rough contracts (Clarkson, Hartnell), but the crop of youngsters is solid.
Don’t be fooled by Columbus’ poor season last year. They lost about 18,000 games to injury last year. Now they are fully healthy. Their blue line isn’t amazing, but Sergei Bobrovsky should mask a lot of issues. This is a potential playoff team.
What have they done lately?
They haven’t done much, since this is their season opener. They went 5-3 in the preseason.
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.
Jackets Lines
Brandon Saad-Ryan Johansen-Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner-Brandon Dubinsky-Rene Bourque
Scott Hartnell-Alex Wennberg-Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert-Gregory Campbell-Jared Boll
Ryan Murray-David Savard
Fedor Tyutin-Jack Johnson
Kevin Connauton-Dalton Prout
Sergei Bobrovky gets the start.
Rangers Lines
Rick Nash–Derick Brassard–Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider–Derek Stepan–Kevin Hayes
Viktor Stalberg–Oscar Lindberg–J.T. Miller
Dominic Moore–Jarret Stoll–Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh–Dan Girardi
Marc Staal–Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle–Kevin Klein
Expected PP1: Stepan, Brassard, Kreider, Nash, Yandle
Expected PP2: Miller, Hayes, Zuccarello, Boyle, McDonagh
Expected PKers: Stepan, Nash, Fast, Moore, Lindberg, Girardi, McDonagh, Staal, Boyle, Klein
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
Scratches/Injuries: Emerson Etem (healthy), Tanner Glass (healthy), Dylan McIlrath(healthy)
Crazy Prediction: Jarret Stoll has a multi point night.
Be sure to check out our ticket link if you’re looking for tickets to the game. Game time is 7pm on MSG. All GIFs will be on nyrgifs.com.
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