Game Preview: Blue Jackets Home Opener Against Lightning Comes With Elvis Merzlikins And Kent Johnson — But Not Patrik Laine

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

0–1–0 (0 points)

7:00 P.M. – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH

Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Network)

Less than ideal.

That would be one way to accurately describe Wednesday's season opener for the Columbus Blue Jackets, a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Columbus had a beautiful goal by Cole Sillinger taken off the board because he was a fraction of an inch offsides 64 feet away from the net. They looked lost on defense, had several ugly turnovers, were without scheduled starter Elvis Merzlikins as a result of an illness, and lost star winger Patrik Laine in the second period for up to one month as a result of an elbow sprain. 

But that was Wednesday.

Friday, the Blue Jackets are back at it — this time on home ice — with a match-up against last season's eastern conference champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The game will be the regular season debut of Johnny Gaudreau in a Columbus home sweater, Merzlikins' illness is a thing of the past, and the club will look to put Wednesday's shaky start behind them and get their first win of the 2022-23 season.

RE: BOLTS

Like Columbus, Tampa Bay's season opener didn't go as hoped, either. They lost 3-1 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden and were out-shot (39-26), out-hit (24-19), lost the faceoff battle (30-17), and started 0-1-0 for the second consecutive season.

But they're still the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy is still one of the best netminders in the league, they still have an elite first line of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov. Victor Hedman is still anchoring the blue line, and Tampa Bay is still a dangerous team. The Blue Jackets will need to be on their A-game to defeat what has to be a frustrated Lightning team.

STORYLINES

• THREE TO FOUR WEEKS
  For a little over one period, the Blue Jackets projected top line of Gaudreau, captain Boone Jenner, and Laine looked as advertised. Minutes before leaving the game in the second period with what was later announced as an elbow sprain, Laine found the back of the net for Columbus' first goal of the season. Justin Danforth joined Gaudreau and Jenner in Thursday's practice at Nationwide Arena and looks to be the first guy to get his chance on the top line in Laine's absence. 
   
• KENT'S SEASON PREMIERE 
  If he's going to be in Columbus, he needs to play — and Johnson will get the opportunity to do so in the home opener. Johnson was likely heading for a healthy scratch Wednesday before the club briefly sent him to Cleveland (he didn't make the trip up 71) in exchange for goaltender Jet Greaves as a result of Merzlikins' late injury. Johnson skated alongside Cole Sillinger and Gus Nyquist on Thursday; the trio should balance each other out well.
   
• ELVIS LIVES — FOR REAL THIS TIME.
  Before being scratched with an illness Wednesday, Merzlikins was penciled in as a storyline to watch. The exact same statement holds true for the home opener, so here we go again: The 2021-22 season was rough for goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. The 5th Line knows it, the organization knows it, and Elvis knows it. As he begins year one of a five-year contract that puts him over $5 million per year, the expectations for the Blue Jackets top goalie have never been higher. The team around him is improving, he's the unquestioned #1 between the pipes for the first time to start a season, and he's had an entire offseason to shake off a tough season both on and off the ice. 

PROJECTED LINES*

Updated: 8:00am

*SUBJECT TO CHANGE