Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (20-21-3) @ Winnipeg Jets (25-14-8) Road/Home records - 11-9-1 -------------- 11-9-3 TV - SN1, FS-O Puck drop - 9:00 p.m. ET Season series - 1-0 Jets Last 10 - Blue Jackets: 5-5-0 ------------ Jets: 6-3-1 Projected starting goalies - Sergei Bobrovsky vs Michael Hutchinson
Projected lines for the Jets via DailyFaceoff.com:
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler Evander Kane - Mark Scheifele - Michael Frolik Chris Thorburn - Adam Lowry - Matt Halischuk T.J. Galiardi - Jim Slater - Anthony Peluso
Ben Chiarot - Dustin Byfuglien Tobias Enstrom - Zach Bogosian Jacob Trouba - Jay Harrison
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Nick Foligno - Ryan Johansen - Jeremy Morin Scott Hartnell - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson Matt Calvert - Alex Wennberg - Cam Atkinson Corey Tropp - Mark Letestu - Jack Skille
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) The Winnipeg Jets are an excellent 5 vs 5 team and may get Jacob Trouba back tonight, so the Blue Jackets probably aren't going to win the even-strength battle. Luckily for Columbus the Jets have been very undisciplined at times, so the Jackets should get their fair share of power play opportunities. They'll need to make the most of them if they want to have a shot.
2) Former Barrie Colt Michael Hutchinson is expected to get the nod in goal for Winnipeg. He leads the league with a .932SV% through 20 appearances, and is a big reason why the Jets currently sit in a playoff spot. It'll be fun to see him go up against one of the better goaltenders in Sergei Bobrovsky.
3) Both teams are top-5 in the NHL in hits and both average over 12PIMs per game, so this could be a very physical game. Whatever teams keeps their discipline best will probably win.
4) The Jets don't have any point per game players like Columbus (Johansen and Foligno), however, they do have depth and it shows with seven points having recorded more than 25 points on the year. The Blue Jackets have just three with 25+ points.
5) At this point Columbus is probably too far out to make the playoffs, but with half of a season left it's possible they could miraculously climb the standings. If they're going to do that, they need to win a lot of games and do so on a regular basis. With a win tonight they could enter the all-star break as few as 11 points out with three games in hand on Boston.
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