After an up and down week, the Blue Jackets are looking for consistency. They are facing the Boston Bruins who sit solidly in a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
The club is defensively sound and has enough playmakers to make your defense have nightmares. Facing them at their home barn will be a tough test during a tough stretch where the Blue Jackets are going to take on six teams in 10 days before the holiday break.
Names like Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci still occupy this lineup. They are all still playing at a high level. Add in players like Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, you can see why they are such a tough out every night.
Each team will look to impose their will on one another and it will all center on the aggressiveness of the club to make sure they play their way.
VIDEO: John Tortorella
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Artemi Panarin | 33 GP, 7-21-28 | 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 33 GP, 6-8-14 | 77 | Josh Anderson | 31 GP, 12-7-19 |
| 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 33 GP, 6-16-22 | 10 | Alexander Wennberg | 27 GP, 3-11-14 | 13 | Cam Atkinson | 28 GP, 6-5-11 |
| 22 | Sonny Milano | 25 GP, 5-5-10 | 38 | Boone Jenner | 26 GP, 3-6-9 | 71 | Nick Foligno | 33 GP, 7-6-13 |
| 11 | Matt Calvert | 21 GP, 4-6-10 | 45 | Lukas Sedlak | 20 GP, 3-1-4 | 64 | Tyler Motte | 19 GP, 3-1-4 |
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 33 GP, 10-8-18 | 3 | Seth Jones | 33 GP, 4-12-16 |
| 7 | Jack Johnson | 33 GP, 2-4-6 | 65 | Markus Nutivaara | 26 GP, 2-9-11 |
| 4 | Scott Harrington | 11 GP, 1-1-2 | 58 | David Savard | 32 GP, 2-5-7 |
| # | Player | GS | W-L-OL | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Sergei Bobrovsky | 27 | 17-9-1 | 2.27 | .923 | 4 |
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 6 | 3-3-0 | 2.98 | .903 | 0 |
Three Storylines
- First Line Freaks: The Blue Jackets face great first lines on a nightly basis, it comes with the territory. Tonight, the Blue Jackets are facing the cream of the crop. Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pasternak are a lethal group. They are a line that will try to force you to go strength against strength to allow for other lines to take advantage. It would be another tall test for Pierre-Luc Dubois but if anything, he has shown that he has been up to every task. Bergeron is his class final. There is no one better defensively than him.
- Figuring Out The Bottom-Six: Sonny Milano was called up along with Cameron Gaunce to give a different look for the Blue Jackets. Gaunce likely won't see the ice unless they get hit by injuries again but Milano should slot right into the bottom six and more likely on the third line. Considering the team that the Bruins are icing, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the third line feasts on the Bruins bottom-six and has a great night.
- Fast Start: There really isn't anything statistically relevant about starting the game fast other than it is good to score more goals than the other team. When the Blue Jackets can get in a quick rhythm they can put a stranglehold on the game that not many other teams can do. They can score more if they need to or they can go into a defensive shell but starting quickly against the Bruins will be needed to try to stymie any home ice mojo.
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