The Columbus Blue Jackets continue their swing of Western Conference competition tonight on the road with a clash with the Winnipeg Jets. Puckdrop is at 8pm from the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
This is their first meeting of the regular season. Coming into tonight’s game, the Jets are first overall in the league standings. They have been a strong team through the first half of the season. They made several roster changes over the summer.
Pierre-Luc Dubois did a Columbus in Winnipeg by asking out and got his wish. PLD was dealt to Los Angeles for a package including Gabriel Valadri, Rasmus Kapuri, Alex Iafallo, and a 2024 2nd round draft selection (originally acquired from the Montreal Canadiens).
The other former Blue Jacket, Kevin Stenlund, joined Florida as a free agent.
David Rittich signed as a free agent with Los Angeles.
Blake Wheeler was bought out and signed with the New York Rangers.
Alex Limoges signed with Washington.
Karson Kuhlman signed with the New York Islanders.
Jansen Harkins was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh.
Winnipeg traded defender Leon Gawanke to San Jose for Artemi Kanaziev.
The Jets added goaltending depth in Laurent Brossoit and Colin Delia.
This team has been strong and led by the veteran star players they locked up in the summertime with Mark Schiefele and Connor Hellebuyck getting their bucks.
Winnipeg is currently on a six game winning streak, and on a 10 game point streak. They have 5 defenders at 10 points or more, and 11 of their regular forwards also have 10 points or more. Production is there up and down the lineup this season. The goaltending has been 0.920 or better. Unreal. Nothing is getting passed them.
Columbus is on a two game point streak, with Cole Sillinger riding the hot hand from a hat-trick; and the defenders putting up more points to start.
The goaltending and health need to get back in order for the Blue Jackets to win some games. Gaudreau has been slowly recovering from his slow start; and Ivan Provorov has proven a solid fit in Columbus.
This will make for an interesting matchup between the Central’s best against the Metro’s worst.
Expect Hellebuyck and Merzlikins.
Projected Lineups
Winnipeg Jets
Nikolaj Ehlers—Mark Schiefele—Gabriel Valardi Vladislav Namestinkov—Cole Perfetti—Alex Iafallo Nino Niederriter—Adam Lowry—Mason Appleton Morgan Barron—Dominic Toninato—Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
Josh Morrissey—Dylan DeMelo Brendan Dillon—Neal Pionk Nate Schmidt—Dylan Samberg
Connor Hellebuyck Laurent Brossoit
Injured — Kyle Connor, Rasmus Kapuri, David Gustafssson, Ville Heniola
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau—Adam Fantilli—Justin Danforth Yegor Chinakov—Cole Sillinger—Kirill Marchenko Kent Johnson—Jack Roslovic—Emil Bemstrom Alexandre Texier—Dmitry Voronkov—Mathieu Olivier
Damon Severson—Adam Boqvist Ivan Provorov—David Jiricek Jake Bean—Erik Gubdranson
Elvis Merzlikins Spencer Martin
Scratched — Andrew Peeke, Daniil Tarasov, Jake Christainsen
Injured — Zach Werenski, Sean Kuraly, Boone Jenner, Patrik Laine, Nick Blankenburg
Players to Watch
Winnipeg — Mark Schiefele — top scorer of the Jets, last season in current deal before raise goes up. Over a point per game player on who might become the President’s trophy winner.
Columbus — Jack Roslovic — former team of current roster player was the easy choice for the pending free agent. Will be the focus here.
Predicted Final Score
WPG - 6
CBJ - 2