PREVIEW: Blue Jackets welcome Rangers to Nationwide 

The Blue Jackets missed another opportunity on Friday night to build momentum, as the team dropped a 2-1 final to Buffalo in front of another sellout crowd in Nationwide Arena.

Coming off a road trip to California that featured two wins in three games, Columbus had a chance to string together consecutive wins for the first time since November, but a third-period goal by the Sabres was enough to break a tie and give Columbus the loss.

Consistency is perhaps the hardest thing for a young player or a young team to learn at the NHL level, and it’s an area where the Blue Jackets are continuing to try to make progress. After the game, veteran Johnny Gaudreau acknowledged it’s been tough to get traction and keep things rolling for this year’s CBJ squad.

“You have to try to find a groove and keep rolling every single game,” Gaudreau said. “Once you are feeling comfortable and confident and you’re playing well as a team, you have to do it the next night and the next night. Obviously, we’re not there yet, but we have to keep working on it. I thought we were right there for two periods.”

It was a close game throughout, with a plethora of chances for both teams, but both goalies made some excellent saves and the Blue Jackets were unable to get the tying goal once the Sabres scored in the third. Part of it might have been because of travel – the team flew back from the West Coast on Thursday and then got right back on the ice Friday – as Columbus just wasn’t as sharp as it had been in some recent efforts.

“The legs were there, the execution wasn’t,” head coach Pascal Vincent said. “That’s the mental part of it. Our breakouts were sloppy, and that’s probably a byproduct of the road trip.”

Things won’t get any easier with NHL-leading New York coming to town, kicking off what’s essentially a back-to-back for the squads. They’ll play tonight in Nationwide Arena and then complete the season series on Wednesday in Madison Square Garden.

Know The Foe: New York Rangers

Head coach: Peter Laviolette (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.34 (9th) | Scoring defense: 2.71 (6th) | PP: 25.1 percent (6th) | PK: 83.2 percent (5th)

The narrative: It’s going to be another 100-point season for the Rangers, who lead the Metropolitan Division as well as the NHL in points percentage thanks to their cadre of stars like forward Artemi Panarin, defenseman Adam Fox and goalie Igor Shesterkin. Last year’s first-round exit was disappointing, but in the first year under Laviolette, the Rangers consider themselves Stanley Cup contenders and are just one of two teams in the league along with Boston in the league’s top 10 in scoring, scoring defense, power play and penalty kill.

Team leaders: You won’t be surprised to find Panarin leads the way, as the former Blue Jacket is fifth in the NHL in points and seventh in goals with a 32-46-78 line. Vincent Trocheck is next with a 20-35-55 line, while Chris Kreider continues to be one of the most consistent goal scorers in the league, posting 29 goals among his 54 points. Mika Zibanejad adds 19 goals among 54 points as well, while Adam Fox is seventh among NHL defensemen in points with 46 (nine goals, 37 assists).

Shesterkin’s numbers aren’t quite the Vezina-winning stats he posted two years ago, but the Russian netminder is 25-12-1 with a 2.70 GAA and .909 save percentage while starting 38 games.

What's new: The Rangers’ forward group has suffered a couple of big blows with long-term injuries to Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the squad be active at the trade deadline. On the ice, New York has been a wagon of late, winning 10 straight games and outscoring teams 41-19 in that span, though the Rangers have given up at least 40 shots on goal in three of the last four games. Also new: pugilist sensation Matt Rempe, a rookie scored his first NHL goal yesterday in a win at Philadelphia and has three fights in four NHL contests.

Trending: The Blue Jackets got their first win of the season against the Rangers back on Oct. 14, a 5-3 victory behind a Boone Jenner hat trick. New York then won a Nov. 12 matchup in Madison Square Garden, tallying late to tie the game before winning in a shootout. Coming into the season, the Blue Jackets had won just three of the past 10 matchups.

Former CBJ: Panarin leads the way, while Riley Nash played one game with the squad earlier this season. Then there’s goalie Jonathan Quick, who never played with the Jackets a year ago but was on the roster for a time. He’s 13-4-2 this season with a 2.36 GAA and .917 save percentage. He'll likely start given Shesterkin got the nod Saturday against the Flyers.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

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

Scratches: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration, out eight weeks as of Jan. 31), Alexandre Texier, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve: None

Roster Report: Nylander goes in to make his CBJ debut after being acquired this week, while Texier comes out of the lineup and Merzlikins gets the start.

3 Stats to Know

• After tallying Friday night, Dmitri Voronkov is the third CBJ rookie to score at least eight goals in a 13-game span, joining Kirill Marchenko (2022-23) and Matt Calvert (2010-11). He is among NHL rookie leaders in goals (15, third) and points (28, fourth).
• With his three-point night Wednesday in Anaheim, Johnny Gaudreau has 25 points in the last 26 games (4-21-25), 15 points in the last 14 (1-14-15) and 11 in the last nine (1-10-11). He has three multipoint games in the last six contests as well (1-7-8).
• Milestone watch: Boone Jenner is two games away from becoming the first player in CBJ history to play 700 games (188-167-355, 698 GP). ... Sean Kuraly is four games from 200 for his CBJ career (34-31-65, 196 GP). ... Zach Werenski is five assists from 200 for his NHL career (83-195-278, 460 GP).

Who’s Hot

Boone Jenner has five goals and three assists in the last six games since returning from the NHL All-Star Game and now leads the Blue Jackets with 18 goals. ... Jack Roslovic had a four-game point streak (1-4-5) stopped Friday. ... The top line trio of Roslovic, Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau has a 91-54 edge in shot attempts and outscored teams 8-3 at 5-on-5 the past five games per Natural Stat Trick. ... Daniil Tarasov has a .939 save percentage in his last two starts, stopping 62 of 66 shots against. ... After notching the game-winning goal vs. Anaheim on Wednesday, Yegor Chinakhov has collected a 4-4-8 line in his last nine contests played and has totaled 12-10-22 over his last 27 games. ... Zach Werenski's two-goal game Wednesday at Anaheim was the fifth of his career, establishing a new CBJ record for defensemen. ... The team’s rookie stat line of 28-36-64 is first in the NHL in goals and third in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 25, 2011: Matt Calvert notches his first career hat trick as the Blue Jackets post a 5-3 win over Phoenix in Nationwide Arena. In doing so, he became the second CBJ rookie in team history to score three goals in a game.

Feb. 25, 2016: The Blue Jackets romp to a 6-1 home win over New Jersey that features Nick Foligno’s second hat trick with the team.

Feb. 25, 2017: Joonas Korpisalo notches his first career shutout, making 24 saves in a 7-0 win over the Islanders at Nationwide Arena.

Feb. 25, 2018: The Blue Jackets acquire forward Mark Letestu for a second stint with the squad, bringing him in from Nashville for a fourth-round draft pick.

Feb. 25, 2023: In front of a season-high crowd of 19,004, the Blue Jackets post a wild 6-5 win over Edmonton at Nationwide Arena. Jack Roslovic scores twice in the third period to break a 4-4 tie, while Kirill Marchenko also tallies twice and Patrik Laine finishes with three points.