In their first meeting of the season, Chicago and Seth Jones come to Columbus to do battle in Union territory. This is Jones’ first game against Columbus since he was a Nashville Predators’ draft pick, and also Adam Boqvist’s first matchup against the team that drafted him. Things will be interesting to see how the club recognizes his efforts, as Jones was on the team that helped get over the Lightning.
Columbus comes into tonight with Merzlikins back on the team, but serving as backup. It has also been confirmed that Gregory Hoffman has been suspended due to his return back to Switzerland. At the end of the day, family comes first in life, even though it may cost earnings and success in the present. This gives the young guns in Chinakov, Stenlund, and Bemstrom more time to fight for ice time. In 24 career games, all with the Blue Jackets, he had 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points. Hoffman was also the oldest player to score his first career goal in franchise history.
Pending Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks
Alex DeBricant—Jonathan Toews—Brett Connolly Dominik Kubalik—Dylan Strome—Patrick Kane Mackenzie Entwistle—Phillip Kurashev—Kirby Dach Jujhar Kharia—Henrik Borgstrom—Ryan Carpenter
Calvin De Haan—Seth Jones Caleb Jones—Connor Murphy Jakub Galvas—Riley Stillman
Marc-Andre Fleury Arvid Soderblom
Scratched— Kurtis Gabriel, Kevin Lankianen, Ian Mitchell Injured— Tyler Johnson, Resse Johnson, Brandon Hagel, Erik Gustafson, Sam Lafferty, Jake McCabe
Columbus Blue Jackets
Patrik Laine—Boone Jenner—Gustav Nyquist Jakub Voracek—Cole Sillinger —Oliver Bjorkstrand Max Domi—Jack Roslovic—Emil Bemstrom Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Yegor Chinakov
Zach Werenski—Adam Boqvist Vladislav Gavrikov—Andrew Peeke Dean Kukan—Jake Bean
Joonas Korpisalo Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched— Gabriel Carlsson, Gavin Bayreuther Injured— Nathan Gerbe, Daniil Tarasov, Alexandre Texier, Justin Danforth Taxi Squad— Liam Foudy, Jake Christiansen
Players to Watch:
Chicago— Seth Jones — the honors and flowers will come his at some point tonight, but his exit brought Columbus three players on their active roster: Cole Sillinger; Jake Bean; and Adam Boqvist. Jones has 25 points in 35 games for a 0.71 points per game average; almost doubling the average per game between the three combined. Jones knows how to produce better than his defensive side has shown, but offense wins games.
Columbus— Adam Boqvist — in his first game against his former team, and being with Werenski tonight, the motivation is there for the team’s leading goal scorer on the defense.
Thoughts? More to come…