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Blue Jackets make first trip to Vegas

January 22, 2018, 12:08 PM ET [2 Comments]
Paul Berthelot
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Jackets, coming off a four day break have two games this week before they get another four day break for the All-Star game. The Jackets take a road trip through the desert to take on the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes.

Vegas is obviously the big game here. With a win last night Vegas surpassed Tampa Bay for top spot in the entire league. Vegas has had a massive home ice advantage, they are 18-2-2 at home, by far the best home record of any team. It appears teams are enjoying the Vegas lifestyle, and maybe aren’t always 100% when they play the Golden Knights. The Jackets very well could be in the same situation. John Tortorella has no problem with the Jackets players going out; in fact he seemed to even encourage it.




Having the weekend off hopefully will help the Jackets. Party on the weekend, recover today and be ready for the game tomorrow. Regardless this is going to be great for Jacket fans to get their first look at Vegas against their team. Columbus is one of just four teams (New Jersey, Philadelphia and Calgary the others) to have not yet played Vegas. This is a great opportunity to see William Karlsson, and marvel at the incredible season he is having.

Karlsson in just 46 games already has 25 goals and 40 points. In his entire Blue Jacket career, one that spanned 165 games, Karlsson had just 16 goals and 47 points. I don’t think anyone thought Karlsson had this kind of offensive upside. He was always a solid offensive producer, but never a top scorer like this. It’s great to see Karlsson playing well and while it would be great to have him and this production in Columbus, this wasn’t going to happen. Karlsson was never going to get this opportunity. If he wasn’t picked he would have been in his same third line shutdown role, and never would have had the offensive chances. Sometimes all you need is an opportunity and Karlsson has made the most out of his.

Karlsson’s play has been a big reason why the Golden Knights have been the most successful expansion franchise ever.




For the Jackets, they need to overcome all the hype around Vegas and come out of this game with at least a point. This long layoff has helped those teams chasing Columbus close the gap and the Jackets are dangerously close to being out of a playoff spot. They currently sit third in the Metro division with 55 points. They are just one back of New Jersey for second, but every Metro team is hot on their tails. The Flyers are in the top Wild Card spot at 54 points, the Rangers in the second spot at 53, Pittsburgh’s at 53, the Islanders at 52, and Carolina, last in the division has 50 points. Any slip up by the Jackets and they are getting passed by one of if not multiple teams. A perfect week for the Jackets would be getting three points.

The Jackets have been banged up this month so these couple long breaks have been very good to help players rest and recover. It sounds like one player, Cam Atkinson, may be close to a return. He made the trip to Vegas.




Vegas isn’t your typical NHL road trip, so you can’t read too much into this, but Atkinson has been taking part in practice which is a big step in the right direction. Getting Atkinson healthy and back into the line-up is going to be huge for this team. They have a tough month of February with divisional game after divisional game. They need all hands on deck for that stretch as they try and hold on to their playoff spot.

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