Final Score: Rangers 4 – Blue Jackets 2
Game Summary
The Rangers had the Jackets number this year. They swept the season series winning all four games by a combined score of 15-7. The Jackets again had a slow start, getting almost doubled up on shots 13-7. And again the goaltender kept them in the game. Unfortunately Joonas Korpisalo couldn’t stop the wave of shots and the Jackets fell 4-2.
The Jackets made some interesting lineup decisions for this game. Korpisalo started as I mentioned; his first back to back starts since Sergei Bobrovsky returned from injury. Korpisalo played great against the Hurricanes last game and clearly John Tortorella felt he deserved another start. It’s so refreshing to have a backup that the Coach is willing to trust for more than just spot starts.
The other interesting decision was Scott Hartnell was a healthy scratch. This has been nothing new for Hartnell. Torts has not been afraid to bench players he feels are underperforming. Hartnell has been in the middle of a long scoring drought. He hasn’t scored a goal in his last 13 games. His last goal came on March 4th vs Edmonton. You have to wonder if the weight of scoring his 300th career goal is weighing on him a bit. Hartnell has responded well in the past to being scratched so hopefully he picks it up against Toronto on Wednesday.
In the absence of Hartnell, Nick Foligno stepped up and provided the offense. He scored both Jacket goals, his third multi-goal game of the season. On the first goal Foligno carried the puck into the zone, quickly passed it to Oliver Bjorkstand, and went to the net. Bjorkstrand fumbled the pass but was still able to get the puck over to David Savard. Savard took the shot and Foligno tipped it home for his 10th goal of the season.
juuuust nicked it pic.twitter.com/1ZXzDKAGcl
— NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 5, 2016
Foligno was not done there. Seems like he can only score in bunches this season. He made a real nice move to get around the Rangers defencemen, and then tucked it in past Henrik Lundquist. Foligno only has 11 goals on the year but seven of them have come in three games. It doesn’t change anything but I’d imagine his season would have a different feel to it if he spread those goals out more.
Stat of the Night
Stats courtesy of HockeyStats.ca, War On Ice, and Hockey Reference.
You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot