The New York Rangers are 5-1-2 since January 1, and they'll be looking to overcome the hottest team in the NHL right now to continue building on that. As the Rangers look to continue the fight for the postseason places, they'll take on the feel-good story of the year. The resurgent Columbus Blue Jackets will visit Madison Square Garden. A win for the Rangers would close the gap to the postseason spots, while a defeat would destroy their five-game point streak.
Columbus has become everyone's second team this season as they fight on after the passing of star winger Johnny Gaudreau. While everyone wishes for the best for his family, the Rangers will face his teammates. Columbus is struggling with injuries, with Erik Gudbranson, Boone Jenner, Yegor Chinakhov, Justin Danforth, and Sean Monahan all on the IR for this one tonight. A depleted Jackets team is coming into the garden tonight.
For the Rangers, they've returned home from the West Coast and will be trying to continue to build. They've been significantly better since the turn of the New Year, and the Rangers can make it back to the postseason. This is a roster that can still compete for the Stanley Cup. When the Rangers take to the ice tonight, they will be looking to continue building on that recent momentum from the points streak and get back into the race for Lord Stanley's Cup.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov - Adam Fantilli - Kirill Marchenko
James van Riemsdyk - Cole Sillinger - Kent Johnson
Zach-Aston Reese - Luca Del Bel Belluz - Mathieu Olivier
Mikael Pyyhtia - Sean Kuraly - Kevin Labanc
Zach Werenski - Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk - Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen - Damon Severson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
New York Rangers
Artemi Panarin - Vincent Trocheck - Alexis Lafreniere
Will Cuylle - Mika Zibanejad - Reilly Smith
Chris Kreider - Filip Chytil - Arthur Kaliyev
Adam Edstrom - Sam Carrick - Matt Rempe
Ryan Lindgren - Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller - Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen - Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Puck Drop
It's a 7 p.m. puck drop from Madison Square Garden, and the Rangers need to continue moving in the right direction. Columbus has won six straight coming into tonight, and they remain one of the hottest teams in the league. If the Rangers can keep Zach Werenski quiet, they'll give themselves a better chance, but nothing is certain in this league.