Game Day #69: Big Points On The Line As Blue Jackets Travel To Pittsburgh For Friday Night Battle Against Penguins

They're all playoff games from here out.

Three points out of a wild card spot, the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to snap a five-game losing skid Friday night when they head east to face the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Included in the five straight losses: an 0-1-3 homestand, which saw one of the league's best offensive teams on home ice connect for just one goal in 12 periods (plus 29 seconds) of hockey. Columbus scored just once on a total of 119 shots, a stat that certainly blends a struggling offense with plain bad luck.

"Offensively, we’re getting there, getting chances," said captain Boone Jenner. "They just weren’t going. It’s obviously on us to get one and get those breaks going our way.”

If they can get some of those breaks Friday night and put the losing streak to bed, the Blue Jackets will find themselves with 73 points and just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot. 

Here's what to know when Columbus and Pittsburgh face off in the NHL's only game of the night:

• RE: PENS
  Ohio native Alex Nedeljkovic will get the start for Pittsburgh. He's lost all five of starts since play resumed after the 4 Nations tournament. ... This is the final game of a five-game homestand for the Penguins, who won their first three before falling to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. ... Pittsburgh has allowed six power play goals (16 total attempts) in their last five games.
   
• BACK-TO-BACK BLUES
  The second night of a back-to-back has been tough all season for Columbus: they're 1-7-0 on night two, giving up an average of 4.75 goals in those games while managing just 1.88. If ever there was a time to buck a trend...
   
• FOURTH LINE ACTION
  No one scores when a team is shutout, of course, but the Blue Jackets fourth line of James van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly, and Luke Kunin had their best night together Thursday night. They had 18 of the 25 shot attempts in their 7:14 of shared ice time last night, and their expected goals of 0.856 dominated the Panthers 0.163 in that stretch. Advanced metrics don't tell the whole story, but statistically this was Columbus' best line Thursday.
   
• LINEUPS CHANGES & PROJECTIONS:
  No changes are expected to the forward lines or defensive pairings. As of early Friday afternoon, no starting goalie has been confirmed by the club. With Elvis Merzlikins getting the start Thursday night, he figured to be counted out. The team recalled Jet Greaves from the (AHL) Cleveland Monsters late Thursday, but did not confirm who he was stepping in for. If it's Merzlikins, whose wife gave birth to their second child earlier this week, that would put the tandem at Greaves and Daniil Tarasov for Friday's game.
  
  Here are the complete lineup projections: