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| BOSTON BRUINS |
| 44–20–5 (91 points; .669%) |
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7:00 P.M. – MONDAY, APRIL 4TH NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Network) |
Columbus will look to avoid a second straight home-and-home loss Monday when they battle the Boston Bruins to conclude a set of games with one of the hottest teams in the league.
The Blue Jackets lost twice to the New York Islanders last week, the first of three straight back-to-backs against Eastern Conference foes. Losing 5-2 to the Bruins in Boston on Saturday night means that Columbus will need a win Monday night to avoid not only another home-and-home sweep, but to end their longest losing streak of the season at six games. If they can't, they'll have a third crack at a back-to-back with the much-easier-to-beat Philadelphia Flyers.
Until the series with the Isles, the Blue Jackets had only one other home-and-home this season: a pair of come-from-behind wins in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. That was impressive at the time, but is even more impressive now considering that the Avs lead the league in both wins and points.
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | BOS |
|---|---|---|
| 3.17 | GOALS FOR | 3.16 |
| 3.74 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.66 |
| 18.4% | POWER PLAY | 24.4% |
| 77.2% | PENALTY KILL | 81.7% |
| 30.2 | SHOTS FOR | 35.8 |
| 35.4 | SHOTS AGAINST | 28.8 |
| 47.5% | CF% (EVEN) | 54.1% |
| 48.7% | FACEOFF WINS | 53.7% |
| PACES & PROJECTIONS | ||
| 31.9% | MONEYPUCK'S ODDS TO WIN | 68.1% |
| 42.0% | THE 538'S ODDS TO WIN | 58.0% |
| 82.0 | 82-GAME POINT PACE | 109.7 |
RE: BRUINS
The Bruins stayed hot in their 5-2 win over Columbus. It's now six of the last seven in the win column for Boston, with 23 goals in their last four games. They're now just two points behind going from fourth place up to second in the Atlantic Division, though the prize isn't all that great: a potential series against the Toronto Maple Leafs or Tampa Bay Lightning as opposed to wildcard matchups that are likely to be against either the Florida Panthers or Carolina Hurricanes.
Aside from the usual suspects — David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, etc. — keep an eye on forward Eric Haula. The freshly-turned 31-year-old has just 12 goals of the season, but one-third of them have come in the last four games.
STORYLINES
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GUESS WHO'S BACK? (BACK AGAIN)
Monday's game won't come with the fanfare that it did last month, but Nick Foligno — who was honored Saturday for his 1,000th game — will be back in the building for the second time since his exit from the Blue Jackets this time last year. No reason to believe it won't be another warm welcome for the former Columbus captain and lover of glove-dropping (especially for a pizza).
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CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET
Thirteen games in the season means it's time to get Yegor Chinakhov and Cole Sillinger, among others, some elevated ice time. So far, that seems to be happening. Chinakhov averaged just over 15 minutes of ice time in the two previous games, his 8th and 9th-ranked games this season (of 58) when it comes to time on ice. For Sillinger, he's exceeded his average time on ice (13:34) in six consecutive games — and all by at least one full minute. Those six games were all losses, but that can't really have blame to put these two, and even if they were: that's what this time of the year is good for. Clean out the closet and let's see what we can learn about the young guns in the last few weeks.
PROJECTED LINES*
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Gus Nyquist | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 93 | Jake Voracek | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| 23 | Brendan Gaunce | 17 | Justin Danforth | 59 | Yegor Chinakhov |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 52 | Emil Bemstrom |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| 46 | Dean Kukan | 27 | Adam Boqvist |
| 53 | Gabriel Carlsson | 22 | Jake Bean |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 30 | Jean-Francois Berube |
*SUBJECT TO CHANGE
