After officially wrapping up a playoff spot on an idle night yesterday due to other results around the league, the Blueshirts are back at Madison Square Garden for a divisional bout with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Having split the first two games of the season series earlier in the season, the Blue Jackets and Blueshirts will meet twice over the next week and a half to play the last two of their four meetings on the 2022-23 campaign.

Although a matchup with major playoff implications against the Devils looms on Thursday, the Rangers can’t afford to overlook the lowly Blue Jackets. Currently dead last in the Eastern Conference by a whopping 13 point margin, the Blu Jackets are in the thick of the race to the bottom of the league wide standings and the highest offs of landing phenom Connor Bedard that come with a 32nd place overall finish. It’s not a make or break game for either team, but it’s one Columbus would probably prefer to lose, so the Rangers ought to oblige and hand them said loss.

Player to Watch: Alexis Lafreniere

As the Blue Jackets do what they can to earn the next first overall selection in the league’s entry draft, keep an eye on the player the Rangers used their recent first overall selection on. Lafreniere found the back of the net on Saturday along with both of his linemates, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil. Sayurday’s game marked only the second time that trio have all scored goals in the same game, so pay close attention to Lafreniere and his linemates once again.

Enjoy the game!