Match-up - St. Louis Blues (34-13-4) @ Columbus Blue Jackets (21-25-3) Road/Home records - 14-9-2 -------------- 10-13-2 TV - FS-MW, FS-O Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Season series - 0-0 Last 10 - Blues: 9-0-1 ------------ Blue Jackets: 3-7-0 Projected starting goalies - Brian Elliott vs Curtis McElhinney
Projected lines for the Blues via DailyFaceoff.com:
Alex Steen - David Backes - T.J. Oshie Jaden Schwartz - Paul Stastny - Vladimir Tarasenko Dmitrij Jaskin - Patrik Berglund - Ty Rattie Steve Ott - Marcel Goc - Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo Carl Gunnarsson - Chris Butler Barret Jackman - Ian Cole
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Nick Foligno - Ryan Johansen - Cam Atkinson Scott Hartnell - Brandon Dubinsky - Corey Tropp Alex Wennberg - Artem Anisimov - Jack Skille Matt Calvert - Mark Letestu - Jared Boll
Fedor Tyutin - Jack Johnson Kevin Connauton - James Wisniewski Ryan Murray - David Savard
Injured: Boone Jenner, Jeremy Morin, Brian Gibbons, Nathan Horton, Sergei Bobrovsky.
What to watch:
1) With the way these two teams are playing, this is about as much of a mismatch as you'll find. The Blues are currently firing on all cylinders and blasting through everyone in a very tough conference, whereas the Blue Jackets are still beat up and their record shows that. If Columbus plays the way they have the last month or so this won't be close.
2) David Savard has looked a lot better the last couple games playing away from Jack Johnson. Top pairing duties against top competition was way too much for him to handle, but he should be effective playing softer minutes. He has an assist and four shots in his last two games.
3) Few teams can match up with the Blues down the middle, but I think Columbus stacks up against them 1-4 about as good as anyone. It'll be fun to watch these guys go head-to-head tonight.
4) If St. Louis has an achilles heel, it's probably being undisciplined at times. Columbus is a much lesser even-strength team, so they'll need to take advantage of their PP opportunities.
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