New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets
Thursday, December 5, 2019 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Ohio – Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Blue Shirt Banter
New York Rangers, 13-10-3, 29 points, 6th Metro, 12th East
@
Columbus Blue Jackets, 11-12-4, 26 points, 7th Metro, 13th East
On the heels of Tuesday night’s disappointing loss to the Arizona Coyotes, yet another matchup where the Jackets won the Corsi battle but lost on the scoreboard without truly threatening the opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the New York Rangers and some guy named Artemi Panarin to Nationwide Arena in the first matchup between Metro Division rivals this season.
You might have heard about this return.
Beyond that storyline, the Jackets desperately need to find a way to get back in the win column. The loss on Tuesday dropped the Blue Jackets back below .500 this season, now three points below these visiting Rangers. Two points are critical for the Blue Jackets as they head off on the road after this one – banking a win tonight is paramount.
Player to Watch
Artemi Panarin
I mean, who else? Artemi Panarin left the Blue Jackets after posting the two best seasons by a forward in team history. Now, Panarin leads the Rangers in goals, assists, and points. He has posted a 12-21-33 mark through 26 games, a staggering 104 point pace over the course of an 82 game season. Panarin is still only getting better despite the heights we witnessed in Columbus over his last two seasons here. Tonight makes his first return to Nationwide Arena since his fateful summer decision.
Jackets Notes
Head Coach John Tortorella said postgame on Tuesday that Alexandre Texier will remain at center heading into tonight’s matchup … The Jackets allowed just six high danger chances to Arizona on Tuesday, but generated just six of their own … Dean Kukan played a career high 22:54 in the loss to Arizona … Atkinson and Wennberg both have been taken off the power play, neither seeing minutes in the loss … Speaking of Wennberg, he played just 8:38 on Tuesday as Torts mentioned that he “couldn’t find him”
The Other Bench
The Rangers come in on the heels of a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights … Mika Zibanejad has returned for the Rangers after missing 13 games with an upper body injury … Jacob Trouba, brought in over the summer with a new contract from the Winnipeg Jets, is on pace to finish with fewer than 40 points this season
Season Series
12/05/2019 NYR @ CBJ
01/19/2020 CBJ @ NYR
02/14/2020 NYR @ CBJ
03/24/2020 CBJ @ NYR
Stats
| New York Rangers | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.23 (10) | GPG | 2.52 (29) |
| 3.31 (24) | GAPG | 3.07 (19) |
| 18.8% (16) | PP% | 20.9% (9) |
| 75.2% (27) | PK% | 81.3% (16) |
| 43.50% (31) | 5v5 Corsi % | 50.15% (14) |
| 44.58% (31) | 5v5 Fenwick % | 51.89% (8) |
| 9.25% (6) | 5v5 Shot % | 6.35 (29) |
| .920 (13) | 5v5 Save % | .918 (16) |
| Artemi Panarin, 12 | G Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 10 |
| Artemi Panarin, 21 | A Leader | Seth Jones, 12 |
| Artemi Panarin, 33 | P Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, Gustav Nyquist, 18 |
| Brendan Lemieux, 52 | PIM Leader | Boone Jenner, 20 |
| 5-4-1 | Last 10 | 5-4-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Gustav Nyquist | Boone Jenner | Oliver Bjorkstand |
| Sonny Milano | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Alexandre Texier | Josh Anderson |
| Riley Nash | Alexander Wennberg | Emil Bemstrom |
| Dean Kukan | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | David Savard |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Andrew Peeke |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
New York Rangers
| Artemi Panarin | Mika Zibanejad | Kaapo Kakko |
| Brendan Lemieux | Ryan Strome | Chris Kreider |
| Jesper Fast | Filip Chytil | Pavel Buchnevich |
| Boo Nieves | Brett Howden | Brendan Smith |
| Brady Skjei | Jacob Trouba |
| Ryan Lindgren | Adam Fox |
| Libor Hajek | Anthony DeAngelo |
| Henrik Lundqvist |
| Alexandar Georgiev |