Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (18-17-3) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (21-17-3) Road/Home records - 9-8-1 -------------- 14-9-0 TV - TSN4, FS-O Puck drop - 7:30 p.m. ET Season series - 1-0 Maple Leafs Last 10 - Blue Jackets: 7-2-1 ------------ Maple Leafs: 2-8-0 Projected starting goalies - Sergei Bobrovsky vs Jonathan Bernier
Projected lines for the Maple Leafs via DailyFaceoff.com:
Daniel Winnik - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel James van Riemsdyk - Nazem Kadri - Richard Panik Leo Komarov - Mike Santorelli - David Clarkson David Booth - Sam Carrick - Trevor Smith
Dion Phaneuf - Cody Franson Morgan Rielly - Roman Polak Jake Gardiner - Stephane Robidas
Injured: Joffrey Lupul, Peter Holland.
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Scott Hartnell - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson Sean Collins - Alex Wennberg - Jack Skille Jeremy Morin - Mark Letestu - Jared Boll
Jack Johnson - David Savard Kevin Connauton - James Wisniewski Fedor Tyutin - Cody Goloubef
Injured: Artem Anisimov, Boone Jenner, Brian Gibbons, Nathan Horton, Ryan Murray.
What to watch:
1) This is a classic tale of teams heading in opposite directions. The Maple Leafs, who once sat comfortably in a playoff spot, have lost eight of 10 while the Jackets have won 12 of their last 15. If the Jackets can keep their winning trend going they could be as few as seven points out with three games in hand by the end of the night.
2) I get not wanting to rush Mark Letestu into heavy minutes coming off an injury, but he played less than 10 minutes against Dallas while Jeremy Morin - who has been very good since coming over from Chicago - played less than 6 minutes. Having these two in the lineup gives Columbus the depth they've been without all season, so I think Todd Richards would be smart to use them more.
3) The Maple Leafs haven't been a good 5 vs 5 for a few years now, but they showed improvement at full-strength in Peter Horachek's debut as bench boss. If Columbus is going to win this I think they'll need good special teams and a power play goal or two.
4) Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonathan Bernier are among the top-10 goaltenders in save percentage over the last couple seasons. Both teams tend to allow way too much chances at even-strength so the goalies will need to be on their game in this one.
5) Ryan Johansen enters tonight's game on an eight-game point streak. If he keeps that going the Jackets have a good chance of continuing their winning ways.
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