Blue Jackets at Rangers
The New York Rangers have been on an upward trajectory throughout February and can cap the month with their 10th victory when the surging Columbus Blue Jackets visit Madison Square Garden on Monday. The Rangers finished a 2-1-0 road trip with a hard-working 3-2 victory at Dallas on Saturday and acquired former All-Star center Eric Staal from Carolina for a prospect and two draft picks a day later.
Staal will be reunited with his brother Marc, a top-four defenseman for the Rangers, and should bolster a forward corps which struggled to score in pivotal games last postseason. New York, which is 9-2-1 in its last 12 contests, must raise its level of play against an improving Columbus team that it beat in two straight games to start the season. The Blue Jackets are 7-1-3 over their last 11 contests and 26-22-8 since former Rangers coach John Tortorella was hired to take over for Todd Richards. Columbus, which has dropped five in a row against New York, rallied from two goals down to beat Florida 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, FSN Ohio (Columbus), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (26-29-8): Scott Hartnell, who is likely to be on the move by Monday's trade deadline, reached the 20-goal plateau for the ninth time in his career by scoring one on Saturday and leads the team with 41 points. Brandon Saad tops the club with 24 goals - three in his last four contests - while Brandon Dubinsky enters with a four-game point streak. Defenseman Seth Jones scored his first goal with Columbus on Saturday and has recorded 12 points and a plus-3 rating in 22 games since being acquired from Nashville.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (36-20-6): Chris Kreider has scored in back-to-back games while Derick Brassard has netted a career-high 22 goals and caught Mats Zuccarello for the team scoring lead with 46 points. Eric Staal has had a rough season, managing just 33 points in 63 games, but gives the Rangers more size and experience up the middle. New York made a minor deal with Metropolitan Division-rival Washington on Sunday, acquiring Chris Brown for fellow forward Ryan Bourque.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus G Joonas Korpisalo has earned points in nine of his last 10 games (7-1-2) and has posted a .922 save percentage this month.
2. New York D Dan Boyle needs two points to reach 600 in his career, but has gone five games without one.
3. Columbus captain LW Nick Foligno is slated to play in his 600th NHL contest Monday.