PREVIEW: Blue Jackets get right back at it against the Rangers

BLUE JACKETS (7-4-0) vs. RANGERS (7-3-3)

The advanced stats showed Columbus had the better of the chances on the night -- the Blue Jackets at 5-on-5 had big edges in scoring chances (31-15), high-danger scoring chances (13-3) and expected goals (2.51-1.49),
per Natural Stat Trick
-- but a couple of turnovers and the late goal let the Capitals escape with victory.
GAMEDAY GUIDE: See the CBJ lineup, notes and more in today's Gameday Guide
"It stings a bit, there's no question," CBJ head coach Brad Larsen said. "I thought it was a good hockey game. In five days, you're not sure how sharp you're going to be. You could tell we had a bit of puck management issues at times, but we battled right back in it. We played well tonight."
The biggest thing that Larsen was concerned about postgame were the three turnovers that led to three Washington goals in the first 28 minutes - puck management issues, as he referred to, which make it tough to win against a team as experienced and good as the Caps.
On the other hand, a major positive was the way the Blue Jackets fought back once down 3-1. After scoring the first goal of his CBJ career in the first period, Dublin native Sean Kuraly notched his second of the night 48 seconds after the third Caps goal to make it a one-goal game, and 22 seconds after that Gus Nyquist scored on a breakaway to tie the score.
It was just the latest instance this season in which the Blue Jackets rallied when facing adversity, even if they weren't able to finish off the comeback in the end.
"I felt like we were right there at the end," Kuraly said. "We battled back -- we expect our team to battle back. We don't expect to fall over and get down. We're good. We don't care who it is, we think we have what we need to play with any team. We'll move on, we have another one tomorrow."
As Kuraly said, the good news for the Blue Jackets is they get a chance to get right back at it tonight against the Rangers. Columbus has started to stack solid performances on top of one another, and now comes the opportunity to do it again in front of the home fans.
"That's a tough way to lose, obviously," Nyquist said after the game. "The good thing is we get a chance right back at it tomorrow. That's what good about playing back-to-back sometimes, you get a chance to win again tomorrow."

Know the Foe

The Blue Jackets already have some experience this year with the Rangers, having faced off against the team Oct. 29 in Madison Square Garden, a 4-0 victory for New York. In that one, goalie Igor Shesterkin pitched a shutout while Chris Kreider scored twice and both Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox notched three assists.
That was another victory in what has been a solid start for the Rangers, who haven't made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past five years but could be starting to see the fruits of a rebuild coming to bear.
Former CBJ head coach Gerard Gallant' squad has actually been outscored to this point, placing 24th in the NHL in scoring (2.54 goals per game) and 16th in defense (2.85 allowed). The squad also places 14th in the league in power play (20.9 percent) and 18th in penalty kill (81.4 percent).
Star power helps lead the way as the Rangers have four players with at least 12 points in the first 13 games. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Fox and former Hart Trophy finalist Panarin lead the way, as Fox has a 3-10-13 line and Panarin has 11 assists among his 13 points. Kreider is off to a hot start with nine goals this season to tie for fifth in the NHL, while Mike Zibanejad has 4-8-12.
Depth of scoring has been hard to come by from there, but the team boasts a number of youngsters to watch in 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere (3-1-4 in 13 games), 2019 second overall pick Kaapo Kakko (no points in nine games) and highly touted young defenseman K'Andre Miller (1-1-2, -4 in 13 games).
In net, Shesterkin has been one of the best goalies in the league to this point, posting a 6-2-2 record in 10 starts. He boasts a 2.37 goals-against average and .931 save percentage that places fifth in the NHL among goalies with at least 10 starts. Backup Alexandar Georgiev is 1-1-1 with a 4.26 GAA and .862 save percentage.