Game 2 review - Jackets too tight.

The Rangers went into Columbus on a high from an opening night win. Reality, and the Blue Jackets, pushed them down a couple of pegs, as the Rangers dropped a 5-2 decision in a game that wasn't that close. 

Cam Talbot started in net, and things got dicey very quickly as former Ranger Artem Anisimov (one of my players to watch) rifled a feed from Scott Hartnell (another player to watch - I hate being right sometimes) past Talbot for an early 1-0 lead at 6:24 of the 1st. 

At 17:33, the Blue Jackets increased their lead as Nick Foligno spun away from the side wall and fired a shot off a defenseman in front, and swiped the rebound past Talbot as he fell to the ice. 

At 5:43 of the 2nd, two milestones happened as Lee Stempniak scored his first as a Ranger, but the big milestone is the assist for Anthony Duclair, as the 19 year old "Duke" notched his first NHL point. Marc Staal also assisted on the goal. 

Any hopes of closing the gap were squashed as Cam Atkinson deflected a Ryan Johansen shot past Talbot for a 3-1 lead. 

After a Marko Dano goal gave the Jackets a 4-1 lead, the Rangers got back on the board as Rick Nash potted his 3rd of the young season off another feed from Duclair, making it 4-2. An empty netter by Atkinson gave us our 5-2 final. 

PLUS/MINUS 

PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The Duke got the 2 assists, and nearly his first goal. But rang it off the crossbar. After 2 games, I see nothing that says this young man isn't an NHL player. He even was promoted to the top line with Nash and St. Louis. 

PLUS - Chris Kreider. Nothing on the score sheet but 17 minutes in penalties, but Kreider saw his teammates getting abused and stepped up to fight Jack Skille after Skille decked Mats Zuccarello. Zucc was a punching bag all night. 

MINUS - Cam Talbot didn't have it tonight. He looked pedestrian on the first goal, which gave the Jackets momentum. 

MINUS - The judgment of the Referees was all over the place. Stempniak took a boarding penalty on a clean hit because the Anisimov went down funny and stayed there. After his release from the box, on a delayed penalty, he was railroaded late by Scott Hartnell 2 feet in front of the Stripes, who let it go. Awful job most of the night even had Dave Maloney openly questioning them during the broadcast. 

MINUS - When your skilled players are getting pushed around, why are important players like Chris Kreider dropping the gloves?  Two fighting majors so far this year - Kreider and Zuccarello. I kept hearing Tanner Glass would fight anyone. I haven't seen it. We need a guy like Paul Bissonette to sheriff for this team. 

The Rangers Home Opener is tonight at 7PM against the Toronto Maple Leafs. There will be no live tweet of the game as I have prior commitments. Look for a New Blue (P)Review later today.