The New York Rangers have been playing well and that has raised dreams of a playoff run. It’s the same story for the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the true surprises of this NHL season.
Before this season, the common consensus was that the New York Rangers would be better and could even contend for a playoff spot. No one thought the same about the Columbus Blue Jackets. Over the summer they lost Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel and Sergei Bobrovsky. With that wholesale gutting of their roster, a lottery position beckoned.
Believe it or not, the Blue Jackets have been one of the top feel good stories of this season. They are definitely in the playoff hunt and have eight more points than the Rangers. They’ve accomplished this with a run that began on December 9, just four days after they lost 3-2 to the Blueshirts at Madison Square Garden.
Since December 9, the Blue Jackets have lost only two games in regulation over their last 19 games, going 14-2-3. That included a streak of 12 games in which they got at least a point. They didn’t do this against the patsies of the NHL either. They beat Boston and Washington twice and had wins over Carolina, Vegas, the Islanders and Florida.
Over that 19 game stretch they have outscored the competition 61 to 34 and have had fiour shutouts. That’s a solid 3.21 goals per game average, but their defense has been even more superlative, allowing only 1.79 goals per game.
It will be a challenge for the Rangers as they will face another team that plays shut down defense, very similar to the Islanders team that they just beat twice. In the Blueshirts’ favor is the fact that Artemi Panarin will be facing off against his old mates and that will be added incentive for the Ranger All-Star. He scored a goal in that first meeting and has averaged a goal a game in the five games he has played against them in his career.
Although the Blue Jackets are a team that the Rangers must win to climb into playoff contention, the game will inevitably be missing the fever that surrounded the intense rivalry games with the Islanders. The Blueshirts are probably looking ahead to their third game versus the Isles. Taking the Blue Jackets lightly will be disastrous for the Rangers.
This is another “four point” game and another great test of this young team to see if they have really bought into the David Quinn mantra. It won’t be easy.