Game Day #11: Tarasov Starts, Labanc And Jiricek In For Blue Jackets As Columbus Looks To Bounce Back From Blowout Loss

The Columbus Blue Jackets play the second half of their first back-to-back of the season Saturday when they travel to D.C. to face the Washington Capitals.

It's a role reversal from the month of October, when the Blue Jackets faced an opponent on the second half of a back-to-back six times.

And it's also another big, early-season test for Columbus, who failed the first half in a 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night. 

"There was no pressure, no sustained heat for us in all three zones but especially in the offensive zone," head coach Dean Evason said after the loss, Columbus' largest of the young season. 

The Blue Jackets will need that offensive zone pressure Saturday to have any chance of splitting the back-to-back. Washington's defense is allowing a league-best 24.0 shots per game and have gone consecutive games without giving up 20 shots on goal — they gave up just 19 to the high-octane New York Rangers offense in a 5-3 victory Tuesday, and followed that up by allowing just 15 shots on goal in a 6-3 win Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Capitals are off to a 7-2-0 start, giving the Blue Jackets back-to-back nights of opponents who entered the game with a combined 16-3-0.

Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets drop the puck at an earlier-than-normal 5:00 p.m. start time:

• Daniil Tarasov gets the start in net for the Blue Jackets. He has three wins in five starts, but a below-average .886 save percentage and above-average 3.46 goals per game average. The hope would be for a better defensive performance not just between the pipes but from the Blue Jackets defense as well. Elvis Merzlikins gave up six goals in the Friday night loss, but faced 44 shots as Winnipeg dominated the forecheck and made it an extremely busy night for the Columbus goalie.
• Dmitri Voronkov made his season debut Friday night, registering one shot on goal in 13:24 of ice time. He primarily played with Sean Kuraly and James van Riemsdyk but was not on the ice for Kuraly's goal that was assisted by van Riemsdyk; Mathieu Olivier had come on for a shift. It will take some time for Voronkov to get his legs under him after missing more about a month with an injury.
   
• Aside from Tarasov, there are a pair of lineup changes for the Blue Jaclets: Kevin Labanc comes in for James van Riemsdyk, and David Jiricek is in for Jordan Harris. Here are tonight's lines.