PREVIEW: Blue Jackets right back at it, face Hurricanes

Heading into last night’s game in Madison Square Garden, Pascal Vincent was very curious to see how things would go for his team.

The Blue Jackets had beaten the New York Rangers on Sunday night in Columbus, and the Metropolitan Division leaders had a big chance to get revenge completing the home-and-home Wednesday.

The CBJ head coach knew the Rangers would come out and give the Jackets their best shot, and he was anxious to see how his team would handle it.

In the end, the answer was “pretty well.” The Blue Jackets didn’t get the result they wanted, falling 4-1 in Manhattan, but they hung with the Rangers throughout before two empty-net goals sealed the deal. In fact, the Jackets had edges in measures such as possession time, shot attempts and high-danger chances, but the Rangers eked out the win.

Afterward, Vincent said he liked the way his team handled the challenge.

“I know we didn’t win,” Vincent said. “At the end of the day, that’s all we want, winning hockey games. But the process and how the game was played, I felt that I saw a lot of good things.”

His players couldn’t help but agree, especially when looking at a third period in which the Jackets outshot the Rangers 12-4 and drew within a goal on Cole Sillinger’s tally early in the frame. But as much as the Jackets pushed to try to tie the score, they just couldn’t get the equalizer on Igor Shesterkin.

“Especially in the third period, we worked to get ourselves back in the game,” Mathieu Olivier said. “Silly came up with a big goal there. We had a lot of opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize. It is what it is. It was a hard-fought hockey game. ... There was a lot of emotion today, and guys were invested.”

Things don’t get any easier tonight, though, as Columbus has to fly home to take on the team chasing the Rangers in the standings. Carolina is a challenge for anyone, especially when travel and a back-to-back is involved.

“I thought we played pretty well for both games (vs. the Rangers), the majority of the games,” Gaudreau said. “It’s another really good test for us tomorrow night, and we should be excited to play these guys. They’ve been a playoff team for a while now. It’s gonna be a fun game to be a part of.”

Know The Foe: Carolina Hurricanes

Head coach: Rod Brind’Amour (Sixth season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.27 (12th) | Scoring defense: 2.73 (7th) | PP: 27.2 percent (4th) | PK: 84.6 percent (3rd)

The narrative: Is this the year Carolina finally finds the big postseason success that has finally eluded it? The smothering Canes have made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs each of the past five seasons and made conference finals appearances in 2019 and last season, but the squad is yet to make it to the Final. As always, they’re one of the toughest teams in the league to play against, using speed and pressure to make every minute difficult on their opponents.

Team leaders: Sebastian Aho trucks along as one of the most underappreciated players in the game, posting a team-high mark of 61 points on 22 goals and 39 assists. Seth Jarvis is just 22 but the 2020 first-round pick looks to be on his way to stardom, posting 18 goals and 29 assists, while Martin Necas follows with an 18-24-42 line. Teuvo Teravainen adds 17 goals among 38 points, while Brent Burns is 38 but leads the defense with a 9-22-31 line.

Goaltending has been an issue for the Hurricanes this year thanks to injury, with both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta currently out with injuries. Pyotr Kochetkov leads the team with 31 appearances and is 16-10-3 with a 2.35 GAA and .911 save percentage, while former CBJ goalie Spencer Martin is the backup.

What's new: Carolina is trying to track down the Rangers at the top of the Metropolitan Division, posting a 10-3-1 record and outscoring foes 40-25 in the last 14 games since Jan. 24. That includes a 5-1-1 mark in the last seven, and wouldn’t you believe it, the shot-happy Canes have a 413-317 edge in shot attempts in that span.

Trending: The teams have met only once this season to this point, a Nov. 26 visit to Carolina that ended in a 3-2 win for the Canes thanks to a three-goal third period. Carolina has made it tough on the Jackets in recent years, with Columbus winning just two of the last eight contests.

Former CBJ: Martin has subbed in admirably when needed of late, winning three of four starts and posting a 1.96 GAA and .925 save percentage. In addition, second-year forward Jack Drury is the son of former CBJ forward Ted Drury.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Yegor Chinakhov – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier – Cole Sillinger – Alex Nylander
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Andrew Peeke
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Daniil Tarasov
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratches: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration, out eight weeks as of Jan. 31), Kent Johnson (upper body injury, out indefinitely), Adam Boqvist

Injured reserve: None

Roster Report: Tarasov seems likely to get the nod in net after Merzlikins started last night on the road, while Johnson is out because of an injury suffered last night. Texier will go in, while Peeke comes in for Boqvist.

3 Stats to Know

• Blue Jackets goalies have combined to post a .927 save percentage in the last four games, stopping 126 of 136 shots against. Daniil Tarasov has a .939 save percentage in his last two starts, stopping 62 of 66 shots against.
• Johnny Gaudreau has four multipoint games in the last eight contests (1-9-10). He now has 27 points in the last 28 games (4-23-27), 17 points in the last 16 (1-16-17) and 13 in the last 11 (1-12-13).
• Milestone watch: Cole Sillinger is four games from 200 for his NHL career (28-35-63, 196 GP). ... Sean Kuraly is two games from 200 for his CBJ career (34-31-65, 198 GP). ... Zach Werenski is five assists from 200 for his NHL career (83-195-278, 461 GP).

Who’s Hot

Dmitri Voronkov has nine goals in the last 15 games and is among NHL rookie leaders in goals (16, third) and points (30, fourth). ... Boone Jenner has five goals and three assists in the last eight games since returning from the NHL All-Star Game and leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals. ... Jack Roslovic has seven points (2-5-7) in the last seven games. ... The top line trio of Roslovic, Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau has outscored teams 10-4 at 5-on-5 the past seven games. ...Yegor Chinakhov has collected a 4-5-9 line in his last 11 contests played and has totaled 12-11-23 over his last 29 games. ... The team’s rookie stat line of 29-37-66 is first in the NHL in goals and third in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 29, 2008: Jason Chimera’s overtime goal in the first-ever Leap Day game for the Blue Jackets nets the team a 3-2 win at Vancouver. Andrew Murray and Rick Nash score in the third period to tie the score before Chimera’s winner past Roberto Luongo.

Feb. 29, 2016: Cam Atkinson scores his 20th goal of the season in a 2-1 loss at the New York Rangers in the second Leap Day game in team history. Before the game, Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner signs a two-year contract extension.