 |
| NEW YORK RANGERS |
|
7–3–3 (17points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
|
|
|
7 P.M. – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OHIO |
|
|
|
BALLY SPORTS OHIO ESPN+ |
Friday night's 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals was a difficult way to start a flurry of three games in four nights.
Saturday comes a chance to redeem not only that loss, but a loss from earlier in the season too, as Artemi Panarin and the New York Rangers battle Boone Jenner and the Columbus Blue Jackets for their second meeting of the season.
Two weeks ago, the Rangers handed the Blue Jackets their worst defeat of the season: a 4-0 shutout from Madison Square Garden. Scoring chances were rare for the Blue Jackets and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins was peppered from the start, allowing two early goals and two more late in the game.
With the second of the team's three total meetings this season coming from Nationwide Arena, Columbus is out to return the favor and give the 5th Line what they deserved to see Friday: two points.
| BLUE JACKETS | RANGERS | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.09 | GOALS FOR | 2.54 |
| 2.91 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.85 |
| 20.0% | POWER PLAY | 20.9% |
| 82.9% | PENALTY KILL | 81.4% |
| 29.5 | SHOTS FOR | 25.7 |
| 34.2 | SHOTS AGAINST | 33.8 |
| 52.2% | FACEOFF WINS | 46.0% |
| BLUE JACKETS | RANGERS | |
| 46.4% | MONEYPUCK'S ODDS TO WIN | 50.7% |
| 52.0% | THE 538'S ODDS TO WIN | 480% |
| 30.1% | MONEYPUCK'S PLAYOFF ODDS | 86.9% |
| 25.0% | THE 538'S PLAYOFF ODDS | 57.0% |
| 104.3 | 82 GAME POINT PACE | 107.2 |
Know the Foe
The Rangers are defying the laws of statistics so far this season. They are 7-3-3 and rank 9th in the NHL in percentage of possible points, but rank 24th in goals per game, 16th in goals allowed, 31st in shots for, 29th in shots against, 30th in faceoff percentage, and finally, 22nd in expected goals for and 25th in expected goals against.
Part of the reason the Rangers have struggled to score early on is that their top scorers aren't performing as expected. Panarin has just two goals in 13 games, fellow top-liner Mika Zibanejad has four scores (and seven years ago) in the same number of games, and recent top draft picks Alexis Lafreniere (1st overall in 2020) and Kaapo Kakko (2nd overall in in 2019) have been underwhelming. Lafreniere has four points despite not missing a game, and Kakko is yet to pick up a point in his nine games.
Despite the lagging offensive numbers, the Rangers continue to stay hot due in large part to the play of Igor Shesterkin. His .931 save percentage is in the ballpark of Merzlikins (.940), but in ten starts (compared to Elvis' six), Shesterkin has proven himself worthy of the top spot between the pipes — something that Merzlikins, for whatever reason, has seemingly not done yet.
Storylines
-
ELVIS LIVES: Goaltending was an issue in Friday's loss, and it wasn't more evident than on Conor Sheary's game-winning goal with just over a minute left in regulation. Joonas Korpisalo got the start, and failed to seal the post as Sheary slipped one by at the 18:38 mark of the third period. For the game, Korpisalo gave up four goals on 28 shots (.857 save percentage), sending his season save percentage under the crucial .900 mark, and his goals against average closer to four than three (3.56). Merzlikins is in net Saturday, and it becomes more evident as time goes by that he is the undisputed number one goalie for the Blue Jackets. After a week off, and just one start over the last two weeks, can Elvis pick up where he left off?
-
STUDY THE CALGARY FLAMES: The Rangers have outscored 11 of their 13 opponents by a score of 32-26 — and in two games against the Calgary Flames, have been outscored 11-1. Whatever the Flames are doing, it's worked. Just two of Calgary's 11 goals have come on the power play, so the lopsided score hasn't been the result of lopsided special team goals. Shesterkin has started both games, and without those two starts against the Flames, he's been untouchable: His .931 season save percentage would jump to .952, and his 2.37 goals against would be a miniscule 1.60. Find out what the Flames are doing that has worked, and do that.
-
THIRD LINE NEEDS A JUMP: The pairing of Gregory Hofmann, Jack Roslovic, and Kevin Stenlund have been the third line on paper, but are being outshined and outplayed by Columbus' fourth line of Eric Robinson, Sean Kuraly, and Alexandre Texier. Roslovic showed flashes of brilliance last season after coming over from the Winnipeg Jets in an early-season trade. But it's vanished this year, and with Hofmann and Stenlund (albeit, in two games for Stenlund) the entire third line has become expendable. Can they right the ship?
Projected Lines*
LW C RW 59 Yegor Chinakhov 34 Cole Sillinger 93 Jakub Voracek 14 Gustav Nyquist 38 Boone Jenner 28 Oliver Bjorkstrand 15 Gregory Hofmann 96 Jack Roslovic 11 Kevin Stenlund 50 Eric Robinson 7 Sean Kuraly 42 Alexandre Texier LD RD 8 Zach Werenski 22 Jake Bean 44 Vladislav Gavrikov 5 Gavin Bayreuther 53 Gabriel Carlsson 2 Andrew Peeke Starting Goalie Backup 90 Elvis Merzlikins 70 Joonas Korpisalo *subject to change
