Match-up - Tampa Bay Lightning (9-3-1) @ Columbus Blue Jackets (4-8-1) Road/Home records - 3-2-0 -------------- 2-4-0 TV - SUN, FS-O Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Season series - N/A Last 10 - Lightning: 7-3-0 ------------ Blue Jackets: 2-7-1 Projected starting goalies - Ben Bishop vs Anton Forsberg
Projected lines for the Lightning via DailyFaceoff.com:
Valtteri Filppula - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov Jonathan Drouin - Vladimir Namestnikov - Cedric Paquette Brendan Morrow - Brian Boyle - J.T. Brown
Anton Stralman - Matt Carle Jason Garrison - Radko Gudas Eric Brewer - Andrej Sustr
Injured: Victor Hedman, Brett Connolly, Alex Killorn.
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Scott Hartnell - Boone Jenner - Cam Atkinson Brian Gibbons - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno Matt Calvert - Alex Wennberg - Jack Skille Corey Tropp - Michael Chaput - Jared Boll
Fedor Tyutin - David Savard Tim Erixon - James Wisniewski Dalton Prout - Frederic St. Denis
Game notes:
- Though the Blue Jackets came away with just one point, they were better vs the Hurricanes last night than they have been in games past. They need to build on that tonight if they want to have any chance against quite possibly the best team in the East. A quick start is key.
- The Jackets need their goaltending to be much better. Curtis McElhinney has an .886SV% in five games, which is not nearly good enough, especially with the team fighting so many injuries and having a good portion of their top forwards out of the lineup. Their losing streak isn't going to end until they get a good effort from between the pipes.
- Boone Jenner looked good centering the top line as he picked up a pair of assists and had five shots in the loss. He should only get better as he gets more games under his belt.
- After opening the season on a 10-game point streak Ryan Johansen has gone pointless in two of his last three. He hasn't been bad by any means and it's hard to expect much more, but with the team lacking scoring punch right now he'll need to continue to produce.
- Columbus has lost seven consecutive hockey games and are now in sole possession of 2nd last, and only one point ahead of the Sabres. There's still time to right the ship, but the Jackets need to start picking up points before it's too late. If this gap continues to widen, it's going to be tough to crawl back into the race.
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