Game Preview: Blue Jackets Come Home For Thursday Night Duck Hunt Before West Coast Trip

ANAHEIM DUCKS

14–8–5 (33 points; .611%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE

7:00 P.M. – THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH

BALLY SPORTS OHIO ESPN

The scoreboard tells us the Columbus Blue Jackets lost by just one goal Tuesday night in Toronto, but the 5-4 final was much closer than the game actually was.

The Maple Leafs were up 5-1 entering the third period, and until the final few minutes of the game, the Blue Jackets were down by three. It was anything but a 60-minute effort from Columbus, whose road struggles are becoming more glaring with every game away from Nationwide Arena. 

After five of their last six on the road and just one win to show for it, Columbus returns home just briefly Thursday, welcoming former Blue Jacket Sonny Milano and the Anaheim Ducks to town for the only time this season. A five-game road trip begins Saturday in Seattle for the Blue Jackets, and two points against a surprisingly strong Anaheim team is much needed.

Know The Foe

The Ducks picked up at least one point for the fifth consecutive game Tuesday in a 2-0 defeat of the Buffalo Sabres. Milano scored his 8th goal of the season in the victory, on a most unique pass from linemate Trevor Zegras. 

The goal gave Milano his third career 20 point season, but this one came in just 22 games. His career high for points is 23, during the 2019-20 season that he split between Columbus and Anaheim. That took 55 total games. His second-highest seasonal point total of 22, all of which came with the Blue Jackets in the 2017-18 season, was also the product of 55 games. Needless to say, Columbus' first-round draft pick from 2014 is having a breakout season. Only two Ducks have more points than Milano — one is Zegras, with 22 points. The other is center Troy Terry, who has 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points.

In all, Anaheim has seven players with 15 or more points, a testament to their scoring balance. By comparison, Columbus has four (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jakuv Voracek, Zach Werenski, and Boone Jenner). 

Look for John Gibson to be back in net for the Ducks at Nationwide, despite backup Anthony Stolarz's 25-save shutout Tuesday against the Sabres. Gibson has started 20 of Anaheim's 27 games, with a 10-6-4 record, a 2.69 goals against average, and a .914 save percentage.

Storylines

• NO, SERIOUSLY — BE SMART
  One of the keys to Tuesday's game against Toronto was "be smart" — to avoid turning the puck over and most especially to avoid giving Toronto's 5th-ranked power play any opportunities. The Maple Leafs scored twice on the man-advantage in their 5-4 win, both goals coming in the first 15 seconds of the power play. The pair of power play goals let Toronto move from 5th to 4th in power play percentage, passing — drumroll please — the Ducks. For the second consecutive game, the Blue Jackets will face a 5th-ranked power play. As they needed to do Tuesday, Columbus must avoid sloppy play. Don't turn the puck over, don't commit silly penalties. 
   
• SONNY CAME HOME
  (Are 90's folk-rock puns still a thing?) Milano was traded for winger Devin Shore during the 2019-20 season, and Thursday will mark his first game against his former club. Milano showed flashes of brilliance in Columbus, but it was inconsistent. Former head coach John Tortorella benched him several times during their five seasons together, and even thought Torts is no longer behind the bench, Milano has to have scoring against the team that drafted him on his mind.
   
  • BACK AT THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
    The Blue Jackets have played 12 games at Nationwide Arena and 12 away from it. They're 9-3-0 at home, and 4-8-0 on the road. Younger teams like Columbus tend to be better when at home, and the Blue Jackets are clearly no exception. They begin their longest road-trip of the season Saturday in Seattle, and the five-game west coast swing includes games against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Adding points to the standings may be a tough task the next week and a half, so two points at home against a Ducks team who is in the middle of a five-game road trip of their own? Pretty important.

    Projected Lines*

    LW		C		RW
    14	Gustav Nyquist	38	Boone Jenner	28	Oliver Bjorkstrand
    16	Max Domi	96	Jack Roslovic	93	Jakub Voracek
    50	Eric Robinson	7	Sean Kuraly	42	Alexandre Texier
    15	Gregory Hofmann	34	Cole Sillinger	17	Justin Danforth

    LD		RD
    8	Zach Werenski	22	Jake Bean
    44	Vladislav Gavrikov	2	Andrew Peeke
    53	Gabriel Carlsson	27	Adam Boqvist

    Starting Goalie		Backup
    90	Elvis Merzlikins	40	Daniil Tarasov

    *subject to change