Stop if you've heard this before: the Blue Jackets are trying new line combinations.
But to be fair to head coach John Tortorella, many of their previous lines have gone stale. The offensive pop hasn't consistently been there, and the Blue Jackets have struggled to get into high-danger scoring areas. Outside shots? They've got plenty. Friend of the show Jeremy Crowe has a terrific breakdown here:
#CBJ players broken down by danger-level shot differential, plus PDO and Ozone start rate. You can really see where improvement is needed. pic.twitter.com/qX7hHGZ96V
— Jeremy Crowe (@307x) October 26, 2017
John Tortorella Pre-Game
"It's an eye ball test. Is it working or isn't it?"
— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 26, 2017
John Tortorella on how his evaluation of the #CBJ lines, @joshanderson_77's play, more: pic.twitter.com/WmA6cpD6cR
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Artemi Panarin | 9 GP, 1-9-10 | 71 | Nick Foligno | 9 GP, 3-5-8 | 77 | Josh Anderson | 7 GP, 2-2-4 |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 2 GP, 0-0-0 | 17 | Brandon Dubinsky | 9 GP, 0-2-2 | 13 | Cam Atkinson | 9 GP, 3-1-4 |
| 11 | Matt Calvert | 9 GP, 2-2-4 | 10 | Alexander Wennberg | 9 GP, 1-6-7 | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 9 GP, 2-3-5 |
| 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 9 GP, 1-0-1 | 36 | Zac Dalpe | 7 GP, 0-0-0 | 22 | Sonny Milano | 9 GP, 5-1-6 |
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 9 GP, 3-3-6 | 3 | Seth Jones | 9 GP, 2-5-7 |
| 7 | Jack Johnson | 9 GP, 1-3-4 | 58 | David Savard | 9 GP, 1-2-3 |
| 27 | Ryan Murray | 9 GP, 1-1-2 | 65 | Markus Nutivaara | 4 GP, 0-1-1 |
| # | Player | GS | W-L-OL | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Sergei Bobrovsky | 7 | 4-2-0 | 2.00 | .934 | 1 |
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 2 | 1-1-0 | 3.50 | .873 | 0 |
Three Storylines
- The More Things Change: Listening to Tortorella talk about changing his lines is fascinating; he doesn't want to change them, but because of performance, he's done plenty of changing in the first nine games of the season. He believes he found suitable combinations late in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Buffalo, and as you can see above, some of them are surprising.
- Return Engagement: The Blue Jackets played their most complete game of the season 10 days ago at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, dismantling the Jets in every facet. Steve Mason's poor outing didn't help, but the Blue Jackets felt pretty good coming out of that game before dropping back-to-back games at home to Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. The Jets played last night, but they'll be ready for this one after laying an egg against Columbus on home ice.
- Friday Feeling: Really interested to see how Brandon Dubinsky responds tonight. Losing a leadership letter is a big blow, and Dubinsky is a prideful guy who admitted it hit him hard. Tortorella is pushing one of his go-to players here, hoping to light a fire in him and get his game on track. It's been a rough start for Dubinsky with two assists in the first nine games, but Wednesday's game was his best to date.
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