Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Columbus Blue Jackets (13-15-3, 29 points) and New York Rangers (15-16-1, 31 points) faceoff live from Madison Square Garden in New York City in the second of four meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Columbus fans can hear all of the action on Sports Radio 97.1 The Fan while New York fans can do the same on 98.7 ESPN Radio.
Columbus has gone 2-1-0 since losing their starting goaltender and a lot of familiar faces will play against their old teams for both sides while New York enters having gone 0-2-1 through the first three games of their franchise-record nine-game homestand. The first time these two teams met, the Rangers defeated the Blue Jackets 4-2 in Columbus on Nov. 7.
Former Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash plays against Columbus for the first time as a member of the New York Rangers after missing the team's first matchup with a concussion.
"I think it's overshadowed by what we're worried about right now," Nash told The New York Daily News about playing his old team. "We're worried about winning games and getting two points and ending this losing streak we're on ... I'm worried about the Rangers, not about other things."
New York lost its last game Monday night to the Nashville Predators 4-1 in a game where the team lost captain Ryan Callahan to a knee sprain for 4-6 weeks.
Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov play as members of the Blue Jackets against their old team for the first time at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Jackets are coming off of a 5-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday when the team overcame deficits in order to win.
"Tonight was a game where the hockey gods helped us out a little bit," coach Todd Richards said via NHL.com.
Ryan Johansen leads Columbus with 24 points off of 10 goals and 14 assists while Dubinsky is second on the team and has 20 points off of six tallies and 14 helpers and James Wisniewski has found the twine two times and added 14 assists for 16 points.
Brad Richards paces the Rangers with 24 points off of nine goals and 15 assists while Mats Zuccarello (six goals, 14 assists) and Derek Stepan (five goals, 15 assists) each have 20 points.
The Rangers said they will start Henrik Lundqvist in net, who is 9-13-1 this season with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage while with reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky out with a groin strain, Curtis McElhinney is slated to start for Columbus and is 3-4-1 with a 2.24 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
The Blue Jackets look to keep winning without their goalie while the Rangers try and start taking positive strides after a nightmarish start to their lengthy homestand when the puck drops at Madison Square Garden tonight in New York City.
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