Game #59 preview, Blue Jackets head to Broadway for a matchup against the Rangers

The Blue Jackets will have another chance to right the ship tonight, as they take on the last place Rangers in New York. With the trade deadline just four days away, this team desperately needs two regulation points.

The Jackets have lost two in a row, both against teams they are trying to catch in the standings. As a result, they sit 5 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tonight, they face a different challenge: beating a team that has struggled all season. The Rangers sit at the bottom of the conference, though they have been better of late with some bodies coming back into the lineup.

The Opponent

Coming into the season, the buzz around the Rangers was that they were built to contend for a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately for them, things have not gone according to plan. They are 23-29-7 (53 points), 7 points behind the next closest team in the standings.

Instead of pushing their chips into the center of the table and loading up ahead of this week's trade deadline; they have become obvious sellers. GM Chris Drury may very well be entering true tear-down/rebuild territory, as there isn't much in their prospect pipeline right now.

Before the Olympic break, he traded away superstar winger (and former Blue Jacket) Artemi Panarin, for what felt like pennies on the dollar. Tonight, we might be seeing some of the last shifts for guys who have been a big part of their franchise over the last several seasons.

Despite their struggles, on paper, this is still a very talented team that can burn you on any given night. With the Breadman gone, Mike Zibanejad leads the way in both goals (24) and points (53) through 59 games played.

Gold medal Olympians Vincent Trocheck and JT Miller round out the top-three, but one of the main reasons they have struggled has been the absence of arguably their two best players. Defenseman Adam Fox has only played in 32 games, but he's on a pace that would have him second on the team in scoring, if healthy.

They've also missed star goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who has gotten into just 36 starts this season due to multiple ailments. With these two players in the lineup, this is an entirely different Rangers team than their record would indicate.

Bad news, Jackets fans: both are playing tonight. The Rangers have come out of the gate pretty strong, picking up 3 of a possible 4 points in their first 2 games back. Despite their record, I expect a playoff-type atmosphere tonight; as they have some talented guys who will be looking to showcase themselves for a trade this week.

The Good Guys

We will probably have to wait until game time to see if there are any lineup changes, but it's worth noting that the team practiced yesterday with the same lines they used against the New York Islanders on Saturday. That would mean Kent Johnson is a healthy scratch for the second game in a row.

It looks like Elvis Merzlikins will be back in the CBJ crease tonight. This makes sense to me. Both he and Jet Greaves struggled in their first post-Olympic starts, so I would expect them to alternate until either one can grab the reins.

I thought the team played pretty well in their first two games coming back from the Olympics. They came up just short in each of them. Tonight, I would like to see them sustain more offense and (hopefully) get rewarded with some power-plays.

On that subject, why don't they get more to begin with?

Three Keys to Success

1. Secondary offense. We wrote about it this morning. The Blue Jackets win games when they get secondary scoring. That has been missing since they have returned to action, and they need to find it quickly.

2. Get some saves. The Rangers still have some guys who can score goals. The Blue Jackets will need some timely saves tonight, if they want to win on Broadway.

3. No excuses. The fact of the matter here is, there is no reason they should be losing this game. The Rangers have struggled all year, and the Jackets can't come out of this one with less than two points.

This is the second of three matchups between these two teams this season. The Rangers won the first one, 2-1 in a shootout back on November 15th at Nationwide. They will meet in Columbus again on March 19th to close out the series.

Tonight's game starts just after 7:00 Eastern time. If you live out of market, be aware: you'll need NHL Network to tune in. Let's go Jackets.