The Columbus Blue Jackets will face-off against the Arizona Coyotes tonight in a tale of two completely different teams. While both are young, the Blue Jackets are hoping to stay in the playoff race while the Coyotes are hoping to sniff the postseason for the first time in a while.
Defenseman Dean Kukan joins the lineup as does forward Cam Atkinson as well.
Similar to the Golden Knights, the Coyotes have forwards that can score in droves and make each game a nightmare. If given too much time and too much space, it will be another stiff offensive barrage.
VIDEO: John Tortorella
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Artemi Panarin | 48 GP, 12-27-39 | 18 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 48 GP, 10-12-22 | 77 | Josh Anderson | 46 GP, 15-10-25 |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 41 GP, 4-8-12 | 10 | Alexander Wennberg | 34 GP, 4-13-17 | 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 48 GP, 8-18-26 |
| 71 | Nick Foligno | 48 GP, 9-11-20 | 36 | Jussi Jokinen | 2 GP, 0-0-0 | 13 | Cam Atkinson | 32 GP, 6-7-13 |
| 11 | Matt Calvert | 36 GP, 6-9-15 | 45 | Lukas Sedlak | 35 GP, 4-3-7 | 14 | Jordan Schroeder | 20 GP, 1-1-2 |
| # | Player | Stats | # | Player | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 44 GP, 11-10-21 | 3 | Seth Jones | 48 GP, 8-23-31 |
| 7 | Jack Johnson | 48 GP, 2-5-7 | 58 | David Savard | 47 GP, 2-6-8 |
| 46 | Dean Kukan | 0 GP, 0-0-0 | 65 | Markus Nutivaara | 41 GP, 3-13-16 |
| # | Player | GS | W-L-OL | GAA | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | Sergei Bobrovsky | 39 | 21-15-3 | 2.50 | .919 | 4 |
| 70 | Joonas Korpisalo | 9 | 5-4-0 | 2.85 | .912 | 0 |
Three Storylines
- Return of Atkinson: For any Blue Jackets fan this is obviously the top storyline. Cam Atkinson hasn't had his best season overall but his inclusion into this lineup will be huge. He is going to push players down in the lineup and make the entire group much better because of it. Given his speed and agility, don't be surprised if they go to him early and often without any sort of training wheels.
- Desperate for Points: Not getting any points against the Golden Knights is painful but to be expected with how their season has gone thus far. Not getting any points against the Coyotes would be calamitous. They need to keep climbing up the Metro ladder and not getting points against a bottom feeder team would bring horrendous optics to this season.
- Road Steady: The Coyotes have gone to overtime in six of their past eight games and that means that points should be available for the Blue Jackets. With the worst penalty kill and the worst power play on the road, the Blue Jackets need a play or two to go there way to regain confidence. If they can't win on the road, the team is dead in the water.
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