Sunday, January 13, 2019 – 6:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Blueshirt Banter
Columbus Blue Jackets (26-15-3, 55 points, 3rd Metro, 6th East)
vs.
New York Rangers (18-19-7, 43 points, 6th Metro, 11th East)
After a thrilling overtime win against the division leading Capitals Saturday night, the resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets — 10-3-1 over the last month of play — return home to play host to the New York Rangers Sunday. Artemi Panarin has won each of the last two games for Columbus with overtime tallies, starting with Thursday’s winner against the Predators. For the Rangers, they come into town fresh off a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon at the Islanders, shaking a five-game losing streak in the process. The Jackets are 7-3-1 in the past 11 against the Rangers.
Player to Watch
Chris Kreider comes into the matchup with 13 career points (eight goals, five assists) against the Blue Jackets in his career, and 40 minutes in the penalty box. The latter, by far his most against one opponent. In the first two games, Kreider hasn’t served any time, but has irritated Columbus with his stick, netting three goals, two in the overtime loss Dec. 27 at Madison Square Garden.
New York’s leading goal scorer with 20, Kreider has been around the league since 2012-13, potting at least 20 goals a season four times. He’s already surpassed last season’s totals in goals (16) as he only played in 58 games.
Jackets Notes
Joonas Korpisalo was once again brilliant for the Blue Jackets Saturday night, tossing aside 32 of 33 shots, and narrowly missing out on a second-career shutout. … He rewarded John Tortorella’s faith to start the young goalie in consecutive games after how well he played in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win. … It would appear Sergei Bobrovsky would start tonight. … Artemi Panarin had two assists in the first two games against the Rangers this season. … He comes into the matchup with 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in 10 career games against New York, with seven points (six goals, one assist) in four games last season. … Ryan Murray missed Saturday’s game with an illness, as Gabriel Carlsson was recalled from the Monsters. … Carlsson did not play … Carlsson has appeared in one game this season for Columbus and has one goal, eight assists for Cleveland in 32 games. … Kevin Stenlund made his NHL debut for Columbus (11:30 ice-time) playing RW on Alexander Wennberg’s line. … In 33 games for Cleveland, Stenlund has nine goals, seven assists. … Columbus naive, Kole Sherwood was recalled from Cleveland. … If he gets into the game tonight, it would be his NHL Debut. … In 22 games for Cleveland, Sherwood is (7—4-3). … He also played three games for the Jacksonville IceMen of the ECHL (1—1-0). … Brandon Dubinsky and Markus Hannikainen both missed their second-straight game due to injuries. … Tonight will mark Zach Werenski’s 200th career NHL game. … Former Blue Jacket, and recently retired Rick Nash will drop the ceremonial opening face off as both of his former teams are set to square off. … Nash, the first Blue Jacket to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick, played in 1,060 games across 15 NHL seasons. … He is the all-time leader in Blue Jackets history in many categories including goals (289), assists (258), and points (547). … As a Ranger in 375 games, he scored 252 career points (145 goals, 107 assists), and in 11 games with the Bruins he had six points (three goals, three assists).
Rick Nash Ranks in #CBJ History:
GP – 674 (1st)
G – 289 (1st)
A – 258 (1st)
PTS – 547 (1st)
EVG – 192 (1st)
PPG – 83 (1st)
SHG – 14 (1st)
GWG – 44 (1st)
SOG – 2,278 (1st) pic.twitter.com/geHSLdPbG3— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 11, 2019
The Other Bench
New York has hit the skids in recent weeks, having had a five-game losing streak snapped with their win at the Islanders yesterday afternoon. Fredrik Claesson left Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury and would be reevaluated before Sunday’s game, but is considered day-to-day. Kevin Hayes has missed time, six-straight games, as he comes in with an upper-body injury and will not play tonight. Neal Pionk missed his last game with a lower-body injury.
As always, expect a close, tight affair between these clubs. Just as the previous two games this season between both have been decided in extra time, 16 of the previous 18 games, and 12 of the last 13, have been decided by two-or-fewer goals.
Alexandar Georgiev was in goal for the Rangers victory yesterday. Expect Henrik Lundqvist (12-12-7, 3.08 GAA, .907 SV%) tonight. In his 22 career games against Columbus, ‘Hank’ comes in 11-8-2, 2.92, .907.
Stats
| New York | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.64 (t-26) | GPG | 3.20 (9) |
| 3.36 (27) | GAPG | 3.02 (20) |
| 19.0% (16) | PP% | 14.6% (27) |
| 75.8% (28) | PK% | 81.2% (10) |
| 45.53% (30) | EV Corsi % | 49.60% (17) |
| 99.8 (t-19) | EV PDO | 100.4 (t-9) |
| Chris Kreider, 20 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 25 |
| Mika Zibanejad, 24 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 32 |
| Mika Zibanejad, 36 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 48 |
| Cody McLeod, 56 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, 40 |
| 7-13-2 | Home / Road | 12-8-2 |
| 3-5-2 | Last 10 | 7-3-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Anthony Duclair | Alexander Wennberg | Kevin Stenlund |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | Lukas Sedlak | Riley Nash |
| Seth Jones | Markus Nutivaara |
| Zach Werenski | David Savard |
| Scott Harrington | Dean Kukan |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
New York Rangers
| Chris Kreider | Mika Zibanejad | Mats Zuccarello |
| Filip Chytil | Ryan Strome | Jesper Fast |
| Jimmy Vesey | Brett Howden | Vladislav Namestnikov |
| Cody McLeod | Boo Nieves | Pavel Buchnevich |
| Brady Skjei | Adam McQuaid |
| Marc Staal | Anthony DeAngelo |
| Fredrik Claesson | Kevin Shattenkirk |
| Henrik Lundqvist |
| Alexander Georgiev |
Season Series
11/10/18 NYR 5 @ CBJ 4 SO
12/27/18 CBJ 4 @ NYR 3 OT
1/13/19 NYR @ CBJ
4/5/19 CBJ @ NYR