The New York Rangers will face the Columbus Blue Jackets for the third and final time this season. Columbus was rocked at home last night and expected to be hungry for redemption.
Here’s the game day preview by the numbers.
NYR: 28-11-4 (60 POINTS)
CBJ: 18-20-1 (37 POINTS)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 – 7:00 PM ET, NATIONWIDE ARENA
TV: MSG
RADIO: ESPN 98.7 FM
Rangers last game: 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings
New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets
All-Time: 22-16-1-3 (9-6-1-3 at home; 13-10-0-0 on the road)
The Rangers are looking for the season series sweep. They’ve gained at least a point in five their last six meetings. (4-1-1)
Dusting off the Jackets:
Chris Kreider – 30 GP, 15G-6A—21P – Kreider is the Rangers’ all-time leader in goals against the Blue Jackets. He has points in nine of his last 12 games (12G-1A) against Columbus.
Mika Zibanejad – 17 GP, 4G-14A—18P – Zibanejad has 11 points (2G-9A) in his last 12 games against the Blue Jackets including a plus-3 rating. Zibanejad has points in five of his last seven games against Columbus (6A) dating back to Jan. 13, 2019.
Artemi Panarin – 9 GP, 7G-7A – 14P – Against his former team, Panarin has six points (3G-4A) in his last five games since becoming a Ranger. In total with Chicago and New York, Panarin has points seven of nine games against Columbus, including five games with multiple points (3 two-point games, 2 three-point games).
Ryan Strome – 25 GP, 7G-7A—14P – Strome has points (3G-4A) in six of eight games as a Ranger, against Columbus.
Jacob Trouba – 17 GP, 4G-9A—13P – Trouba has points in four of his last five games (2G-3A) against the Blue Jackets as a member of the Rangers.
Per New York Rangers Game Notes
Rangers key numbers
Point Spreaders: The Blueshirts are the only NHL team to have 4 players with 40+ points.
Road Wins: The Rangers have won 2 of their last 3 road games. Since November 24, they’ve earned 9 wins in 14 games on the road.
Key Rangers:
Adam Fox’s 46 points are 1st in scoring among defensemen.
Chris Kreider’s 30 goals and 15 PPG ranks first in the NHL for each category.
Artemi Panarin’s 45 points is good for 11th in NHL scoring.
Rangers Milestones within reach
Mika Zibanejad is 1 overtime goal away from tying Cecil Dillon, Butch Keeling and Brian Leetch (7 each) for the most overtime goals by a player in Rangers history. 1 SHG to tie for top 10 in shorthanded goals.
Gerard Gallant is 2 wins away from 300 in his career.
Alexis Lafrenière is 4 games from 100 in his career.
Rangers Special Teams
- NYR PP is running at 24.60% (9th)
- NYR PK is working at 84.13% (5th)
*Some Stats and Info courtesy New York Rangers
Three Keys for victory
- How about not starting off slow this time?
- Get on the PP and let Kreider work his magic (REPEAT)
- Heads up! If the Jackets get down early, things could get nasty.
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