rangers blue jackets rick nash

(Chris Russell/Dispatch Photo)

The Rangers are in Columbus tonight to take on a white-hot Blue Jackets team that is fresh off an amazing 16 game winning streak. However this streak is not like the Flyers streak of ten in a row, where amazing shooting and goaltending masked some underlying issues with puck possession. The Blue Jackets have great possession numbers, playing an aggressive style and riding great special teams. This isn’t the Tortorella Rangers, this CBJ team is good.

As for the Rangers, they are literally limping in to the bye week. They have five injuries to deal with, four to key players. It’s tough to stay consistent when missing an entire top line. However the injury to Staal finally forced Alain Vigneault to juggle the defense pairings. It worked like a charm against the Flyers, as the one thing that remained static during inconsistent play was finally changed up. Perhaps this is the beginning of the much needed shakeup on defense.

Jackets Systems

John Tortorella is a notorious aggressive forechecking coach, deploying a 2-1-2 forecheck with most of his teams. In the defensive zone, he’s also notorious for clogging the slot in a low zone collapse, keeping shots to the outside. On special teams, he usually runs an umbrella powerplay, but there’s enough skill on the top-six in Columbus to run a 1-3-1 as well. On the kill, it’s a standard box/diamond hybrid.

For more on hockey systems, check here.

Jackets Lines

Brandon Saad-Alex Wennberg-Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner-Brandon DubinskyCam Atkinson
Matt Calvert-William Karlsson-John Anderson
Scott Hartnell-Lucas Sedlak-Sam Gagner

Zach Werenski-Seth Jones
Jack Johnson-David Savard
Ryan Murray-Markus Nutivaara

PP1:Atkinson-Wennberg-Gagner-Foligno-Werenski
PP2: Saad-Dubinsky-Jenner-Hartnell-Jones

Sergei Bobrovky gets the start.

Rangers Lines 

Chris KreiderDerek StepanMats Zuccarello
Jimmy VeseyKevin HayesMichael Grabner
J.T. MillerMarek HrivikBrandon Pirri
Nicklas JensenOscar LindbergJesper Fast

Ryan McDonaghBrady Skjei
Adam ClendeningKevin Klein
Nick HoldenDan Girardi

PP1: Kreider-Stepan-Pirri-Zucc-McDonagh
PP2: Miller-Vesey-Hayes-Skjei-Holden

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.

Injuries/Scratches: Mika Zibanejad (broken leg),  Rick Nash (groin), Matt Puempel (concussion), Marc Staal (upper body)

Crazy Prediction: Deal a second straight loss to the suddenly not on a streak Blue Jackets.

Game time is 7pm. Gifs are on @blueseatblogs. Be sure to follow our snapchat (blueseatblogs) too!

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