Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (18-21-3) @ Boston Bruins (24-15-6) Road/Home records - 9-9-1 -------------- 15-6-4 TV - NESN, FS-O Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Season series - 1-1 Last 10 - Blue Jackets: 4-6-0 ------------ Bruins: 6-1-3 Projected starting goalies - Sergei Bobrovsky vs Tuukka Rask
Projected lines for the Bruins via DailyFaceoff.com:
Milan Lucic - David Krejci - David Pastrnak Daniel Paille - Patrice Bergeron - Reilly Smith Chris Kelly - Carl Sodorberg - Loui Eriksson Jordan Caron - Greg Campbell - Craig Cunningham
Zdeno Chara - Dougie Hamilton Dennis Seidenberg - Adam McQuaid Torey Krug - Kevan Miller
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Scott Hartnell - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson Josh Anderson - Alex Wennberg - Jeremy Morin Corey Tropp - Mark Letestu - Jared Boll
Jack Johnson - David Savard Kevin Connauton - James Wisniewski Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Injured: Artem Anisimov, Boone Jenner, Brian Gibbons, Nathan Horton, Jack Skille, Ryan Murray.
What to watch:
1) At this point the season is probably lost, but if the Jackets want to have any chance at making the playoffs they need to win this game and a bunch more after. Columbus is currently 15 points back of Boston and they have three games in hand. 13 points with three games in hand (the case with a regulation win) is somewhat manageable but highly unlikely, where as 17 points is nearly impossible. I doubt they make it either way, but I think you can officially write them off with another loss tonight.
2) One of the only positives around the team this year has been the play of Ryan Johansen. He enters tonight's game on a 12-game point streak. Dating back to last season he has 49 goals and 104 points in his last 124 games. That's pretty good production from a 22-year-old.
3) The Blue Jackets are playing in the 2nd half of a back-to-back, and they're facing a good team in the process. That means they'll probably revert to their old 5 vs 5 ways and get their teeth kicked in at evens. If that's the case Sergei Bobrovsky will have to be excellent once again.
4) Jeremy Morin is averaging 10 minutes per game over his last five, and has spent a good chunk of his shifts playing with the likes of Jared Boll. I don't know what Todd Richards expects, but it's kind of hard to produce offense playing limited minutes without skilled linemates.
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