Apologies for overnight blog, travel day for the long weekend has brought me to the Pocono Mountain resort, near the home of the Leigh Valley Phantoms for the long Martin Luther King weekend.
The Carolina Hurricanes stomped the Columbus Blue Jackets by the final score of 6-2.
Carolina opened the scoring with two first period goals before the halfway mark.
Brett Pesce potted the first goal of the game in on Korpisalo for his third of year on an early snap shot; Finnish forwards Teuvo Terrivanen and Jesperi Kotkniemi had the helpers.
Brent Burns pulled a highlight real wrap around goal for his sixth goal of the season. Homegrown talent Seth Jarvis and Jacob Slavin had the assists.
With five minutes remaining in the first period, Sean Kuraly matched his second highest season goal total with 8 on the year to close the Carolina shutout attempt. Mathieu Olivier and Gavin Bayreuther got the helpers.
Jalen Chatfield got the lone second period goal with a short handed tally for goal number three on the season; Jesper Fast got the lone apple.
Brett Pesce recorded his second goal of the game and fourth of the season midway through the third; player to watch Sebastian Aho had the singular assist.
Slavin added to the goal department for his third of the season; Aho added his assist total.
All Star Johnny Gaudreau got the final Columbus goal with his 12th this season; Patrik Laine and Adam Boqvist had the final assists.
Jarvis responded with the final goal of the game for his seventh of the season; Stefan Noesen and Kotkniemi had the apples.
Sebastian Aho was my Hurricanes player to watch, having two assists in the evening to now have 35 points in 35 games on the season. He had 6 shots in 18 shots for 16:51TOI. He had a 47.1% in the faceoff dot.
Frederik Andersen was the starting goaltender for Carolina, playing in his first game of the season since November 6, 2022. Andersen had 21 saves on 23 shots for a 0.913 save percentage.
Joonas Korpisalo was my player to watch for the Blue Jackets coming off a less than 24-48 period of becoming a new first time father in his personal life. Korpisalo was thrusted in with Tarasov coming off of injury and Elvis continuing to be ill. Korpi allowed 6 goals on 41 shots for a 0.854 save percentage.
CBJ THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Johnny Gaudreau - goal (12)
2. Sean Kuraly — goal (8)
3. Adam Boqvist — assist (4), +1, 18:01 TOI
G42 @ DET - Prevent the Pizza
The Columbus Blue Jackets are looking to prevent the season sweep on the road in Little Caesar’s Arena for their only time this season against the Detroit Red Wings at 7pm on Bally Sports Ohio and Bally Sports Detroit.
The Red Wings have outscored the Blue Jackets 10-3 this season. No Zach Werenski to defend former Michigan Wolverine teammates Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp helps the success of the Wings. Both combine for 2 goals and 4 assists this year.
Detroit has won their last two home games against playoff teams in the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wings have outscored their opponents 11-6 in the last two games. The Wings close their three game home stand with Columbus.
The Red Wings face a concerning future with multiple forwards on their team. Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi are both pending UFAs. Jakub Vrana was a healthy scratch in his second consecutive game with the Grand Rapids Griffons. Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist, and Adam Erne are also pending free agents on the offense; Olli Maatta, Jordan Osterle, Jake Wallman, Mark Pysyk, and Robert Hagg on the defense; and goalies Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg between the pipes. They also got money back on the Justin Abdelkader and Frans Nielsen buyouts.
Robby Fabbri is fresh off his season debut, having three goals in four games. Lucas Raymond and Mortiz Seider are having decent sophomore seasons, but aren’t having the same season as the previous.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are currently sitting at last place in the league standings, and are now looking up at the rest of the league, while sitting at the best odds to get maybe the best player since Connor McDavid in Connor Bedard. We just past halfway, projecting us at a 24-54-4 record for 52 points on the season. Let the building and the development process continue here, it will get better before it gets even worse.
Johnny Gaudreau is projected to be first place with 24 goals, 54 assists, 78 points in 82 games this season as an active NHL Ironman. Aside Gaudreau, the only remaining player to have played the full season was Gustav Nyquist, who could be moved at the deadline. Trey Fix-Wolansky was assigned to the Cleveland Monsters to get more Gametime and production.
The projected goaltending matchup is Joonas Korpisalo and Ville Husso.
Projected Lineups
Detroit Red Wings
Tyler Bertuzzi—Dylan Larkin—Lucas Raymond Dominik Kubalik—Michael Rasmussen—David Perron Robby Fabbri—Andrew Copp—Jonathan Berggren Adam Erne—Joe Veleno—Oskar Sundqvist
Jake Walman—Mortiz Seider Ben Chariot—Filip Hronek Olli Maatta—Jordan Oesterle
Ville Husso Magnus Hellberg
Scratched — Alex Nedjelkovic, Gustav Lindstrom, Pius Suter
Injured — Mark Pysyk, Matt Luff, Filip Zadina, Robert Hagg
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau—Kent Johnson—Emil Bemstrom Gustav Nyquist—Jack Roslovic—Patrik Laine Liam Foudy—Cole Sillinger—Kirill Marchenko Nick Blankenburg—Sean Kuraly—Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov—Andrew Peeke Tim Breni—Erik Gudbranson Gavin Bayreuther—Adam Boqvist
Joonas Korpisalo Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched — Marcus Bjork Injured — Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Jake Bean, Justin Danforth, Eric Robinson, Yegor Chinakov, Daniil Tarasov,
Players to Watch
Detroit — Lucas Raymond — hoping for a stronger season despite having three goals in last 5
Columbus — Nick Blankenburg — just came back, crippled team, easy selection
Projected Final Score
DET — 4 CBJ — 3