Game Day #55: Zach Werenski On Track To Play When Utah, Columbus Meet Again Thursday Night

Pending any last-minute setbacks, Zach Werenski will return to the Columbus Blue Jackets' lineup Thursday night when they face the Utah Hockey Club for the second time in less than a week.

The Blue Jackets won in Salt Lake City in overtime on Friday night, with Werenski providing the game-winning goal after a tremendous defensive play seconds earlier. 

But the Norris-candidate defensemen was injured in Sunday's loss to the Dallas Stars and though he did return to that game, Werenski — the NHL's Third Star of the Month for January — missed his first game of the season Tuesday night in Buffalo. 

The Blue Jackets, who also lost Dante Fabbro and Kirill Marchenko in the Dallas game, lost 3-2.

Getting Werenski back is a sigh of relief for the Blue Jackets, given the fact that Marchenko is expected to be out at least a month with a broken jaw and no update has been provided on Fabbro's injury, typically a not-so-good sign. It's also a chance for Z to continue his home scoring streak to 20 games, which would put him into 4th all-time by a defenseman.

This is one of two games left before the Blue Jackets get two weeks off for the Four Nations Face-Off break. It is expected that Boone Jenner will return after that break, with other injured players (Marchenko, Sean Monahan, Yegor Chinakhov, and Erik Gudbranson) expected back at various times in March.

Here's what else to know as Columbus returns home after a 2-2-0 road trip:

• RE: UTAH
  There are only 12 teams that are a true .500 (losses + overtime losses) or better on the road, and Utah is one of them. They're 13-10-3 when visiting. ... Connor Ingram appears in line to start for Utah. He's lose his last three, though hasn't played terrible. He made 27 saves on 29 shots in a 2-1 loss in his last start, on Sunday. ... Dylan Guenther is coming into his own this season in a big way. The 21-year-old is tied for the team lead in goals (18) and is seeing big minutes on the power play. 
   
• POWER-PLAY STRUGGLES
  Without Monahan, the Blue Jackets power play has taken a tumble. They're at seven straight games without a man-advantage goal and are just 2 of 21 since losing Monahan on Jan. 7th. Losing Kirill Marchenko doesn't help either. Meanwhile, Utah has went five straight games without allowing a power play goal, going 9/9 on the penalty kill in that stretch. 
   
• AN IMPORTANT GAME
  The Blue Jackets are right in the middle of the playoff race. With just two games left before the Four Nations break, a home game against a team that's on the outside of the playoff picture looking in can be described as a must-win game for teams who are serious about their playoff hopes. It's not a rival, it's not a weekend game, it doesn't have a lot of fanfare attached to it, but make no mistake about it: this is a sneaky big game for Columbus.
   
• LINEUPS & PROJECTIONS
  Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger swapped spots Thursday morning, an indication that Johnson will get a crack at the top line with Dmitri Voronkov and Adam Fantilli. Werenski was joined by Ivan Provorov as Dante Fabbro remains out. Here are the complete lineup projections: