The Columbus Blue Jackets lost big to the Edmonton Oilers and are now looking to get the poor taste out of their mouths against a Metropolitan Division opponent, the New York Islanders.
Right on the Blue Jackets tail all season long, the Islanders have been winning all season long with players that have been bouncing back wonderfully.
Defenseman Nick Leddy is close to the league lead in points for his position. Center John Tavares is once again near the top of scoring and rookie forward Matthew Barzal is electric with the puck on his stick.
The upside is that a lot of offense is on the docket tonight. It could end up being a real pallet cleanser if they play a similar free-wheeling style.
VIDEO: John Tortorella
"I'm looking forward to this team just playing another game so we can get rid of what happened last night." - Torts#CBJ pic.twitter.com/Ag2ooLVeAD
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 13, 2017
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Artemi Panarin | 31 GP, 7-19-26 | 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 31 GP, 5-8-13 | 77 | Josh Anderson | 29 GP, 11-7-18 |
| 71 | Nick Foligno | 31 GP, 6-6-12 | 10 | Alexander Wennberg | 25 GP, 2-9-11 | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 31 GP, 6-12-18 |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 24 GP, 3-6-9 | 45 | Lukas Sedlak | 18 GP, 3-1-4 | 13 | Cam Atkinson | 26 GP, 6-3-9 |
| 11 | Matt Calvert | 19 GP, 4-6-10 | 14 | Jordan Schroeder | 6 GP, 0-0-0 | 64 | Tyler Motte | 17 GP, 3-1-4 |
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 31 GP, 9-7-16 | 3 | Seth Jones | 31 GP, 3-12-15 |
| 7 | Jack Johnson | 31 GP, 2-4-6 | 58 | David Savard | 30 GP, 2-5-7 |
| 4 | Scott Harrington | 9 GP, 1-1-2 | 65 | Markus Nutivaara | 24 GP, 1-9-10 |
| # | Player | GS | W-L-OL | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Sergei Bobrovsky | 25 | 16-8-1 | 2.20 | .926 | 4 |
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 6 | 3-3-0 | 2.98 | .903 | 0 |
Three Storylines
- Bottling Barzal: The Blue Jackets are going to have all eyes on John Tavares, he is one of the best players in the league. The player they need to worry about tonight is the lightning fast Matthew Barzal. A former first-round draft pick, he is having a stellar season with 28 points this year. That mark would lead the Blue Jackets but he is just one of many on the team. It will be an offensive show tonight.
- Figuring Out The Bottom-Six: Now that Brandon Dubinsky is out after his injury, it will put a lot of pressure on a center group that is going to need to step up quickly if they want to compete within the division. Lukas Sedlak is a fine player but you don't want him to be your third line center option. The wingers on each of those lines will need to carry a lot of the load and tonight is a compelling test.
- Center Of Attention: The way that the Islanders match up against the Blue Jackets is going to be similar to how they did it against the Oilers. There is talent throughout the lineup, getting to the point that the Blue Jackets need to mitigate it in any way possible. They're going to need to shelter certain players to allow for better matchups.
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