PREVIEW: Blue Jackets right back at it against Rangers

The Blue Jackets did some good things Saturday against the Detroti Red Wings, but the end result was a 5-4 loss in the Motor City.

Add it up and it was the Blue Jackets’ eighth loss in the last nine games, a 1-5-3 stretch that has left the team in last place in the Metropolitan Division. A season that started with promise has now given way to the kind of frustration a team feels when it is battling but can’t get things going in the standings.

“I don’t know about the moral victories right now,” Zach Werenski said in the locker room in Detroit. “We have to find a way to get points. Obviously we can take things out of it, the good stuff, but we have to find a way to get points in the standings.”

When head coach Pascal Vincent looks at the tape, the frustration has to come from the types of mistakes he’s seeing. The Blue Jackets are a relatively young team – though the young players actually have played well – getting used to trying to play on the same page, so there have been some ups and downs when it comes to scheme.

But the biggest issue has been simple mistakes the team has made that have resulted in the puck going into the net for the other team.

“You can’t expect to win games with the mistakes that we made, individual mistakes, the turnovers and managing the puck,” Vincent said. “Good teams will make you pay like the last game and this one.”

To be sure, Columbus has had more stretches of good hockey this season than a year ago, but for the second campaign in a row, an OK start to the season has given way to a losing streak that threatens to leave the Blue Jackets with a big hill to climb to be postseason contenders.

The road doesn’t get much easier tonight as the Blue Jackets take on a team that has points in nine straight, as the Rangers are riding an 8-0-1 run coming into the game. But the Blue Jackets aren’t going to just fold up shop and cede two points to New York going into the World’s Most Famous Arena.

“We’re not giving up,” Patrik Laine said after a return to the ice Saturday. “It doesn’t matter what kind of start we have, we still have to battle. It doesn’t matter if we’re up three or down three. We have to keep battling. And we’re not giving up here even though these losses are tough. We just have to find ways to win, but we’re not giving up here.”

Know The Foe: New York Rangers

Head coach: Peter Laviolette (First season)

2023-24 stats: Goals per game: 3.31 (12th) | Scoring defense: 2.08 (3rd) | PP: 35.7 percent (2nd) | PK: 86.4 percent (6th)

The narrative: After making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final in 2021-22, New York saw a promising season a year ago collapse as rival New Jersey rallied to knock the Rangers out of the playoffs in the first round. That led to a big change in Manhattan, with veteran coach Laviolette brought in to replace Gerard Gallant. The motive is to win now thanks to a roster that boasts some of the top talent in the NHL at just about every position plus some intriguing youngsters starting to blossom.

2023-24 leaders: Artemi Panarin has long been known as one of the league’s top offensive players, but he is at a different level to start this season, posting an 8-14-22 line with points in every game so far to place third in the NHL in scoring. One of the league’s best goal scorers, Chris Kreider, has a team-best nine tallies among 12 points, while the injured Adam Fox is next with a 3-8-11 line. Vincent Trocheck (4-6-10) and Mika Zibanejad (2-8-10) each are in double digits in points, while Alexis Lafreniere has five goals among his nine points.

In net, the Rangers also boast one of the league’s best in Igor Shesterkin. The 2022 Vezina winner is off to a 6-2-0 start with a 2.36 GAA and .913 save percentage, though he was out injured for the team’s last game.

What's new: Not even an injury to Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Fox has slowed the Rangers down, as New York has outscored teams 32-16 during its current nine-game point streak. Even injuries to goalies Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick hasn’t slowed the team down, with Louis Domingue going in and earning a 4-1 win Thursday vs. Minnesota. He’s one of a few new additions to the squad this season, joining rookie forward Will Cuylle and defenseman Erik Gustafsson.

Trending: The Blue Jackets beat the Rangeres by a 5-3 score in the second game of the season Oct. 14, improving Columbus to 4-7-0 in the series since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. Columbus has had some success in MSG over the years, as well, going 7-3-0 in its last 10 visits.

Former CBJ: Panarin is the all-time CBJ record holder for points in a season and is off to a strong start in his fifth season with the Rangers, while Quick was traded to Columbus late last season but did not appear in a game.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Patrik Laine
Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
Jack Roslovic – Cole Sillinger – Emil Bemstrom
Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
Zach Werenski – Erik Gudbranson
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Adam Boqvist – Andrew Peeke
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratches: Yegor Chinakhov, Mathieu Olivier, Jake Bean

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: Vincent confirmed Merzlikins gets the start but said there are some game-time decisions to be had regarding other potential lineup changes.

3 Stats to Know

• With 671 games played, captain Boone Jenner is three games away from tying Rick Nash for the franchise record. He has moved into third place this season in franchise annals in both goals (177) and points (338).
• Dmitri Voronkov has a 2-4-6 line in his first eight games, becoming just one of three CBJ players in franchise history to have at least six points in their first eight career NHL contests along with Werenski (2-6-8) and Jakub Voracek (3-3-6).
• Milestone watch: With 172 career assists, Werenski is one away from tying Seth Jones for most career assists by a defenseman in franchise history. … Jack Roslovic is set to play in his 400th career NHL game while Andrew Peeke is one game away from 200 in his career. … Roslovic is also two points from 200 in his career (73-125-198). … Laine notched his 200th career goal Saturday. … Johnny Gaudreau is four games from 700 for his NHL career.

Who’s Hot

Kirill Marchenko is riding a career-best five-game point streak (3-2-5) since returning to the lineup. … Jenner has goals in three of the last five games. … Alexandre Texier has scored in two of the last three games and has a 2-1-3 line in that span. … Roslovic has eight points in the last 11 games (2-6-8). … Columbus ranks second in the NHL penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20, killing off 30 of 32 (93.8 percent) power-play chances over the last 11 games. The Blue Jackets have not given up a power-play goal in 18 chances in the last seven contests.

This Day in CBJ History

Nov. 12, 2022: Columbus drops a 4-3 decision at the New York Islanders in overtime, but Marcus Bjork scores in the third period to become just the seventh CBJ player – and first defenseman – to score a goal in his NHL debut.