After another long break, the Blue Jackets are back in action tonight against the New York Rangers. It's their second Metropolitan Division matchup of the season, and we're hoping for a repeat of their only other inter-divisional game.
The Jackets have sputtered out of the gate again this year, currently sitting at 2-3-0, with just one regulation win. That win came on opening night, which was 16 days ago. Suffice to say, we need them to play a strong hockey game tonight.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are one of the more surprising teams in the league. They are 6-3-0 (yes, they have played 4(!) more games), with a +7 goal differential. They sit second in the Metro right now based off of both points and win percentage. However, they will be without star goaltender Igor Shesterkin for the rest of the year, so it will be interesting to see how they proceed.
Both of these teams are coming off of losses where they allowed 7 goals, so neither should be happy going into this one. Lets dive into our keys to success for the Blue Jackets.
Stay out of the box.
Tuesday night, the game got out of hand because the Blue Jackets could not stop taking penalties. The Panthers scored 4 times with the extra man, and if you take away those goals, this was a tie game. It really speaks for itself.
The Jackets are lucky that Mathieu Olivier avoided suspension and will be in the lineup tonight. He took the worst penalty of all, with a major for slashing in the second period while the game was still in reach. Look for him to come out and play his best game of the season tonight. He owes it to his teammates.
He's not the only one. Carson Soucy tossed an absolute pizza to the Panthers that led to their first goal-then took a very ill-advised penalty later in the game. Damon Severson also took two minors. The gist of it is: just stay out of the box. The Rangers are like every other team in this league; they will burn you if you give them extra man advantages.
Where has the defense gone?
Another loss meant another Rick Bowness rant. In fact, we got two of them, with the latter coming yesterday after practice. He says he's not happy that his team is 30th in the league in team defense. Even as a lowly fan, I'm starting to grow weary of this act. I can only imagine how the players feel.
With that said, I get why he's doing it, and it honestly needs to be done. Is tonight the night we see their mentality shift?
"We're 30th in the league in goals against. I've never coached a team that was 30th... I'm mad, I'm really mad."
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 16, 2026
Rick Bowness on the Blue Jackets' start to the season. pic.twitter.com/oSXl2gSrQ0
I think tonight's game is going to tell us a lot about where this season is headed. Either this team is going to respond in a big way, or they are going to make it obvious that Bones' message is falling on deaf ears. That all starts with team defense.
Get some saves.
Goaltending is trending down league-wide, and the Blue Jackets are part of that metric. Through five games, Jet Greaves has a .874% save percentage. Cam Talbot is at .822%.
That's not going to work. The Jackets need these guys to come in and make a save every now and again. Of course, a big part of that is playing better defense (key #2); but allow me to be the first guy to say it: neither of these goaltenders has inspired any confidence for me this season. They have to get better.
Tonight's game is set for a 7:00 puck drop from Nationwide Arena. It's the first of four meetings between these two divisional foes, and should be a good measuring stick for how the Jackets plan to play out the string this year. Let's hope they bring their "A" game for once.
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