Looking to set a new franchise record for consecutive victories the Blue Jackets arrive back home to host the LA Kings tonight at Nationwide Arena. Columbus, winners of six in a row, hope to catch a Kings team perhaps a little worn down after a tough road loss yesterday to Boston.
Sergei Bobrovsky will be between the pipes for the Jackets and D Fedor Tyutin returns to the lineup after sitting out the previous two contests with an illness. Dalton Prout sits to make room for Tyutin.
Columbus slipped away from Buffalo Saturday night with a 4 - 3 shootout victory over the Sabres. Twice the Jackets rallied from a one-goal deficit to tie the game up and took the lead in the third period on a Brandon Dubinsky goal. But Tyler Myers, who tallied twice, scored the game-tying goal with just 0:25 left with the Sabres on a PP and with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker.
The Jackets were sloppy at times and didn't manage the puck particularly well. After David Savard's third goal of the year tied the game up at 6:19 of the first a turnover in front of their own goal led directly to Buffalo regaining the advantage just 0:28 later. Tyler Ennis intercepted a poor breakout pass that bounced off Dubinsky's stick. He slid a pass over to a wide-open Drew Stafford for a tap in goal.
Ryan Johansen secured the victory for Columbus tallying the only goal in the shootout. Dubisnky scored on the power play and added an assist.
Matt Calvert also scored, just after the Jackets first man advantage expired in the opening stanza. Nikita Nikitin fired a wrist shot through traffic but Ryan Miller made the stop. He kicked the rebound out into the crease and Calvert back-handed the puck past Miller.
Columbus is benefiting from a balanced attack with all four lines contributing. On Saturday, 11 of the club's 12 forwards saw at least 11:31 of ice time and the 12th, Corey Tropp, played 9:32.
Fourth line forward Mark Letestu has been on a tear of late. He's in the midst of a five-game points streak and has five goals and two assists in his last seven.
His linemate, Derek MacKenzie, has three assists in his last four.
The Jackets have moved into the final wild card spot in the East. Both Columbus and Detroit have 52 points but the Jackets own the tiebreaker with one more ROW. They also have a game-in-hand over the Wings.
A little note on Savard: I've been pleasantly surprised with his play this season. I figured with Prout playing so well down the stretch last year that Savard would again be knocked out of the top six and probably would be toiling in the AHL again. Instead he has outplayed Prout and appears to have secured a regular spot, at least for now. Perhaps I'll get to a more detailed blog analyzing his play of late.