Rick Nash Leads The Rangers Into Columbus- Gameday Preview
Time: 7:00 pm EST
Location: Nationwide Arena-Columbus, OH
Game two of the New York Rangers road trip brings them to Columbus, OH. Tonight marks the home opener. Also, it is a “return to the scene of the crime” for Rick Nash. An article written by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch recalled the most recent matchup in Nationwide Arena:
"“Officially, the Rick Nash era in Columbus ended on July 23, 2012, when the Jackets’ captain was traded to the Rangers. Unofficially, it ended during that 3-1 Rangers victory on March 21, when he was given a standing ovation during a first-period video tribute and then played the leading role in a wild sequence of events that caused his former fans to flip…It started with the attempts of Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to clear Nash from his crease, one of which upended Nash. Later, in the second period, Nash clipped Bobrovsky during a breakaway attempt and lost his stick…Bobrovsky, not pleased, swatted Nash’s stick away from him as he tried to retrieve it. Nash, incensed, delivered a two-handed jab to Bobrovsky’s throat, touching off a melee around the Jackets’ net. The confrontation in the crease prompted Jackets wing Matt Calvert to goad Nash into a fight at center ice seconds after the opening faceoff of the third period.”"
The Blue Jackets enter tonight’s contest coming off a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres. Leading scorers for the team are Cam Atkinson, free agent signee Jack Skille, and former Rangers Artem Anisimov. The winning goalie was Sergei Bobrovsky with 22 saves and a .955 save percentage. Also registering a point were former Philadelphia Flyer Scott Hartnell and newly-minted signee Ryan Johansen each with an assist. Former Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky will be out for tonight’s game while still recovering from an abdominal surgery that resulted from a team practice on Monday.
For the Rangers, they are coming off a win of their own. A tightly contested 3-2 win over one of the Western Conferences stronger teams in the St. Louis Blues. The Rangers never trailed in the game, led by strong efforts from the rising star Chris Kreider and Rick Nash, each with goals and an assist.. However, it was the Nash show where he gave the team the first lead of the game and game –winning goal in the third period. With two goals, he added an assist which gave a multi-point effort. Tonight, he looks to continue his wave of momentum against his old team. Some questions on defense may see the start of Matt Hunwick replacing the injured Dan Boyle, who suffered an injured hand while blocking a shot against the Blues. In net, Cam Talbot will make his season debut as the team’s starting goaltender.
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The player to watch tonight for the Rangers will be Rick Nash. How can you not wonder how he plays with everything surrounding him tonight? Former captain of his opponent, the incidences that occurred between he and the Blue jackets in their last meeting, and coming off a three point game where he scored two goals. It’s like not noticing the “elephant in the room”.
For the Blue Jackets, Ryan Johansen is the player to keep an eye on. A dynamic offensive weapon, it seems his hold out over his contract that kept him out of most of training camp and preseason did not keep off the score sheet last game. However, he is still curious to watch if it may have affected his timing with his teammates on the ice.
It will be an interesting matchup tonight with each team out to prove something: who is better?