This is a depleted Columbus Blue Jacket roster - but it hasn't been a problem the past week.
The Blue Jackets have now won four contests in a row - despite now eleven regular players being out of the lineup - and are on a seven-game point streak.
This will be heavily tested tonight, as the club heads to New York to take on an Islanders squad who has faired incredibly well thus far this season, currently sitting fourth in the entire NHL and behind only the league-best Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Divison.
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| NEW YORK ISLANDERS |
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23–8–3 (49 points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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7 P.M. – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21 BARCLAYS CENTER BROOKLYN, NY |
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FOX SPORTS OHIO FOX SPORTS GO |
On this four-game win streak for Columbus, the Blue Jackets defeated those dominant Capitals - but followed it up with victories over the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils - all clubs at the bottom of the barrel.
This to say, the Blue Jackets will need to rise to the challenge of another top-tier team as they did against the Capitals while missing even more of their roster than they did a week ago.
Here's a look at tonight's projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Forwards
Texier-Dubois-Robinson
Nyquist–Jenner–Gerbe
Foligno-Wennberg-Stenlund
MacInnis–Nash–Lilja
Defensemen
Werenski–Jones
Gavrikov–Carlsson
Harrington–Kukan
Projected Starter: Korpisalo
Storylines
- Next Man Up. The injuries are almost becoming comical at this point. Offensively, Emil Bemstrom, Cam Atkinson, Sonny Milano, Josh Anderson, Kole Sherwood, Brandon Dubinsky and now Oliver Bjorkstrand are out of the lineup. On defense, Ryan Murray, Markus Nutivaara and Andrew Peeke remain on Injured Reserve, and David Savard's status (illness) is not known. Why not face some mid-season adversity to help for a postseason push, yes?
- Replacing Scoring. Cam Atkinson, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson - three of the four highest goal scorers from last year's club on the current team are all sidelined. For a team that already has a scoring problem, this is not great. Pierre-Luc Dubois, Gustav Nyquist and Nick Foligno - it's time to bury your chances at an accelerated rate to pick up the slack and lead the newcomers to do so as well.
- Hot Korpisalo. Joonas Korpisalo is playing like a No. 1 goaltender, folks. In his last seven outings, he's allowed just eleven goals total and is holding a .941 save percentage. With Elvis Merzlikins still without an NHL win, look for Korpisalo to man the net fulltime and continue to grow.
