The Columbus Blue Jackets are once at again home for Saturday night hockey as they host the Vegas Golden Knights for the Peanuts Spooktacular Pillowcase Giveaway and Snoopy Woodstock Bobblehead night riding the Jackets’ Zamboni.
Vegas has rode the momentum from last season’s cup final loss with fire in the bellies, as they are off to a hot start under new head coach and Columbus alumni, Ryan Craig.
Management had a very tame summer for themselves as they locked more players to term, including Rasmus Andersson, Jermey Lauzon, and Braeden Bowman. The Golden Knights also traded Pavel Dorofeyev, former Jackets’ prospect Keegan Kolesar, and Kayden Korczak, and Akira Schmid.
Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith departed as free agents.
Acquisitions included Parker Wotherspoon, Ville Heinola, Victoria Olofsson, and Marc Gatcomb, and Adam Ginning.
The Golden Knights are looking to snap their two game losing streak as Carter Hart will likely start for them.
Columbus’ cold start rolls on as coach Rick Bowness’ seat heats up. To address the morale and performance, the lineups have been put through the blender to find any spark or hope for the underwhelming start.
Projected Lineups
Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Brett Howden -- William Karlsson -- Alexander Holtz
Trevor Connelly -- Tomas Hertl -- Raphael Lavoie
Braeden Bowman -- Nic Dowd -- Marc Gatcomb
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Jeremy Lauzon -- Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin -- Dylan Coghlan
Carter Hart
Adin Hill
Scratched: Ville Heinola, Mitch Marner (personal)
Injured: Victor Olofsson (lower body), Parker Wotherspoon (upper body)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Valeri Nichushkin -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Matthew Knies -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier
Cole Sillinger -- Sean Monahan -- Conor Garland
Dmitri Voronkov -- Luca Del Bel Belluz -- Ryan Lomberg
Zach Werenski -- Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen -- Denton Mateychuk
Carson Soucy -- Erik Gubranson
Cam Talbot
Jet Greaves
Scratched: Danton Heien, Emil Andrae
Injured: Dante Fabbro (broken hand), Ivan Provorov (lower body), Isac Lundestrom (lower body)
Players to Watch
Vegas — Mark Stone — as a fantasy holder, his hot streak has him as the top ranked winger on ESPN with 5 goals, 15 points, 13 hits, 25 shots on goal, and 8 blocked shots.
Columbus — Connor Garland is struggling with goose-eggs across the board in his first full season as a Blue Jacket after being acquired from Vancouver at the deadline. His offense is vital after the losses of Jenner and Marchenko to get to the front of the net and battle in the corners for the puck. Otherwise, this becomes a boat anchor of a contract for a team capped out.
Predicted Final Score
VGK — 4
CBJ — 2