Game Day #22: Sean Monahan And The Columbus Blue Jackets Face Off Against The Calgary Flames In An Emotional Black Friday Battle

There's no denying that the Columbus Blue Jackets will feel it a little extra in their Black Friday game against the Calgary Flames.

The road team probably will, too.

For many of the Blue Jackets who knew and loved Johnny Gaudreau, the flaming "C" is synonymous with the late Columbus star. It's where Johnny Hockey played in over 600 games in nine seasons, not to mention dozens of playoff games.

But for Sean Monahan, who signed with the Blue Jackets over the summer in large part to be reunited with his best friend, the sweater is sure to be a call to the past. Monahan and Gaudreau were teammates, linemates, and best friends for years while in Calgary, and now, for the first time since Johnny's August 29th passing, Monahan will oppose the team they spent nearly a decade on together.

“I still haven’t gotten over it, I don’t think I ever will,” Monahan told Eric Francis of SportsNet in an interview this week. "Ninety percent of the time it doesn’t feel real. You lose your best friend, your teammate, it’s tough to comprehend."

Many of the Flames in Friday afternoon's tilt played with Gaudreau, as well, making the first meeting between the two teams an emotional investment for everyone involved. 

As for the on-ice action, here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets and Flames hit the ice for the first of two meetings over the next five nights:

• The Flames have gotten off to an impressive start this season, just three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the Pacific Division. It's kind of an anomaly for a team that ranks in the bottom third of the league in the penalty kill and shots against, but: they've done it with defense and goaltending. They've allowed more than three goals just once in their last nine games, and even in that, they allowed just four. Meanwhile, they rank 26th in the league with 2.57 goals against and have scored more than four goals just TWICE in 23 games.
   
• Kent Johnson had an assist in Wednesday's game, which was his 10th point of the season in seven games. He's had at least one point in each of those games.
   
• Back to Monahan: his 20 points (in 21 games) is second in the league amongst players who are on a new team this year, trailing Jake Guentzel of the Tampa Bay Lightning by just one point. 
   
• The team says that Daniil Tarasov is under the weather, so Jet Greaves has come from Cleveland to be Elvis Merzlikins' backup for the game. Merzlikins had a four-game win streak snapped in the overtime loss Wednesday, and has not allowed four or more goals in three consecutive starts with just an .843 save percentage in those games.
   
• In addition to Greaves in Tarasov's place, there's at least two other changes to the lineup: Cole Sillinger returns to the lineup after missing Wednesday's contest with an upper-body injury. And, speaking of upper-body injuries, Yegor Chinakhov is out of the lineup as a result of one.
  
  Here are the complete projected lineups: