Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers (7-8-0, 14 points) and Columbus Blue Jackets (5-9-0, 10 points) faceoff for the first of four meetings this season live from Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all the action on 98.7 ESPN Radio while Columbus fans can do the same on Sportsradio 97.1 The Fan
New York enters in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, eight points shy of the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins and are in ninth in the Eastern Conference while Columbus enters in sixth place in the division, 12 points behind the Pens while it also ranks 12th in the division.
Many players will face their old teams as these teams have made some blockbuster trades in year's past, but the most prominent face of those trades, New York Rangers forward Rick Nash, won't be returning to Columbus for the first time as an opponent of the team as he's been sidelined with a concussion sustained on Oct. 8 and will miss his 13th game.
"You don't want to see him hurt," Columbus coach Todd Richards said of the former Blue Jackets captain, according to The Columbus Dispatch. "But from a very selfish standpoint, I'd rather not play against Rick Nash than play against Rick Nash, just because Rick Nash is a great player."
The Rangers have turned their season around after a horrid nine-game season-opening road trip and have gone 4-2-0 since, with their latest triumph coming Wednesday night over the Penguins 5-1.
"We can obviously draw on this and give us some confidence going forward," defenseman Marc Staal told NBC Sports Network. "We've got another game tomorrow night, we can't have a letdown, and we go into Columbus and try to get another win."
Former Rangers Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik have combined for 26 points and make up Columbus' top line.
"It's definitely one of those games you look forward to, really get fired up for, and go in there with a little bit of vengeance," Dubinsky said Wednesday, according to the Dispatch. "But given where we're at ... it doesn't really matter who we're playing tomorrow. I don't care if it's the New York Rangers or the Carolina Hurricanes, it's the most important game of the season and we have to find a way to get the points."
Dubinsky is third on the team in scoring with nine points off of three goals and six assists while Gaborik leads the team with 10 points off of five tallies and five helpers and James Wisniewski has a team-high nine assists along with one goal for 10 points to rank 10th in points for NHL defenseman.
Brad Richards has led the Rangers with 12 points off of a team-high five goals while Derek Stepan has lit the lamp four times and added seven helpers for 11 points.
The Rangers will turn to rookie Cam Talbot in goal and give Henrik Lundqvist the night off after last night's victory. Talbot is 2-1-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage as he enters his fourth career game. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky will stand between the pipes for the Blue Jackets and he's gone 4-7-0 with a 2.79 GAA and a .910 save percentage.
Familiar faces will don different uniforms against their old teams as the Rangers and Blue Jackets go head-to-head live from the Nationwide Arena tonight in Columbus.
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