From an up-and-down year, to some big-game experience down the stretch, to being benched in the AHL playoffs, Ryan Johansen's 2012-2013 season was all over the map, but began and ended in the same place. With the NHL lockout, he was one of a handful of Blue Jackets' regulars to see extended time in Springfield, to the tune of 40 total games last season. He also found himself headed back to Springfield for a short stint midway through the truncated NHL season. Finally, he saw his season end in the Springfield press box as the Falcons were bounced from the Calder Cup playoffs.

What a strange trip it was.

Johansen comes into camp this year heading into his third NHL season. Too young for the AHL in 2011, he made the big club out of camp after having completely dominated the WHL in 2010-2011 to the tune of 120 points (53G, 67A) in 84 total games, including a playoff run that saw his Winterhawks eliminated in the league championship series, falling just short of a Memorial Cup appearance.

Despite having put on more and more muscle mass as he matured, 2011-2012 was a learning experience for the young center, as he found himself in and out of Scott Arniel's lineup, and all over the ice, spending a lot of time on the wing. He managed nine goals and 12 assists in 67 games on a bad, bad team.

With that experience under his belt and a pretty strong run in the AHL, when the lockout ended in January of 2013 many expected Johansen to come in and play at a much higher level in the NHL than he had in his rookie season. In some areas of his game, he certainly held his own. That said, the offensive production and the power game many expected from Johansen were still notably absent.

But, it was what happened early in the short season that may have been a turning point for the young forward. After starting the season with no goals and just two assists in the first 10 games, Johansen was sent back to the AHL in a move then-GM Scott Howson said was to allow Johansen to "find his game".

He wouldn't stay in Springfield for long, returning just 17 days later to Columbus when Jack Johnson was put on the IR list. Whether or not anyone can say he "found his game" there is a matter for debate. That said, over the final 30 games he played, Johansen took some solid steps forward.

For example, his defensive abilities were on display down the stretch when he was getting matched up with the likes of Joe Thornton and Jonathan Toews, and visibly frustrating the All Stars with his defensive play. He also had some solid offensive stretches, including a stretch to start March in which he notched points in five of six games. In 40 games in Columbus overall, he managed just five goals and seven assists, however. Consider the offense a work in progress.

That said, the spirit seemed willing. He showed flashes last season of being a shut-down center one way, and we all know the offensive pedigree he brings the other way. We even started to see some manifestations of that power game down the stretch, as Johansen appeared more willing and comfortable using his body to protect the puck and shield it from opponents.

"As a big guy, you're always working on puck protection," Johansen told me, "in the corners, and really all over the ice as a centerman, in your own zone battling with their big guys. It's a huge part of the game, and that's why every off-season all the players around the league are working out every day. You always want to get that extra edge of strength if you can."

And quite frankly, seeing him this past week, he looks massive. In standing next to him in a short-sleeve t-shirt, the change in his arms was easily noticeable. He looks more trim in the face, but much, much stronger through his midsection. Johansen said he put on seven or eight pounds of muscle this off-season, putting him at 6'4" and 222 pounds. "I feel good. I feel light and fast," he said.

But even with those positives after coming back to Columbus, there were also the lingering questions about his attitude, including the culminating event this past season where he was scratched from the Falcons' AHL final playoff series due to the coaching staff feeling like he wasn't invested completely. "It was tough," Johansen said. "Obviously, I wasn't playing the way I wanted to, and nobody likes watching their team in the stands. I'll definitely do everything I can for that not to happen again this year."

So it is that Johansen enters this season at a bit of a crossroads. He's coming into his third year. The offensive numbers he has displayed in juniors and in the AHL are yet to materialize in Columbus.

Coming into this season bigger and stronger, but also leaner, and with a tiny chip on his shoulder after the way his year ended last year, will we finally see the leap from Johansen? He certainly has the tools, and the culture of the Jackets should lead him to success. And, he seems to know that he's running out of chances to step up: "[The expectations are] a bit more, I think," he said. "There's definitely going to be a bigger role put out there for me, and I'm ready for it. This is what I've been working for, trying to get this opportunity to be a big player for this team. I just have to work for that chance to do it, and make the most of it when I get it."

Therein lies the question: can Johansen show up every night, go all-out every shift, and as pitchers are so often told in baseball, "trust his stuff"? We shall see. When asked if this year's camp was going to be different for him, Johansen responded: "[It's a] little different. You always have the same approach and goals. If they don't turn out, you make new goals. For myself, I want to be a top line player, an impact player on our team, and [be] one of those difference-makers every night. I'm looking forward to the opportunities ahead to start the season."

While that all sounds well and good, one thing remains clear, however: for Johansen, time is starting to run out for him to take that next step. With just 33 points in 107 career NHL games, his numbers pale in comparison to some of his best draft contemporaries. Consider Taylor Hall's 145 points in 171 games, or Jeff Skinner's 131 points in 188 games, or Tyler Seguin's 121 points in 203 games.

If Johansen ever wants to be included in those ranks from that draft, the time is now.

The preseason is finally here Wilderness. Tonight, the Wild take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7pm, at the Xcel Energy Center.

While you can't catch the game on TV, You will be able to hear the called on KFAN (100.3). They are also a member of "I heart Radio", so if you are in an area that does not get KFAN coverage, you should still be able to catch the game.

It should come as no surprise that the starts of the team are sitting out tonight. No Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, or Jonas Brodin. It looks like tonight will be about the kids, and the guys who are still battling for roster spots.

Interestingly, the line of Cooke-Brodziak-Mitchell is being split up. It looks like coach Mike Yeo may be trying to find a way to allow the Wild to have the 4 solid scoring lines most of us are hoping for.

Here are the projected lines for tonight:

Forwards

Matt Cooke -Charlie Coyle - Nino Niederreiter

Jason Zucker - Mikael Granlund - Justin Fontaine

Stephane Veilleux - Kyle Brodziak - Torrey Mitchell

Jake Dowell - David Steckel - Carson McMillan

Defensemen

Keith Ballard - Matt Dumba

Marco Scandella - Nate Prosser

Brian Connelly - Jonathon Blum

Goalies

Niklas Backstrom

Darcy Kuemper

Just a few housekeeping things before we jump into enjoying the game. Because it is the preseason, and the game isn't being televised, this will serve as the game day thread as well. I will be mostly updating the Hockey Wilderness twitter account (@hockeywildernes), with a few things making it on to my personal twitter. I'll do my best to add some period wrap ups, but we are counting on the community to update the thread as well.

Finally, hockey is back! Enjoy the game Wilderness.

Last night the Wild lost 3-1 in their first preseason game to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Overall the game was pretty "meh", with a lot of the positives being washed out with the negatives.

The most important thing to remember about last night is the fact that the vast majority of playmakers for the Wild were not on the ice. Torrey Mitchell, Kyle Brodziak, Nate Prosser and Niklas Backstrom were the only players on the ice yesterday who have been consistent NHLers in the past few years and aren't new to the team.

Winger, and one of the Wild's top prospects, Jason Zucker left the game in the 2^nd. After the game, Yeo said he hadn't gotten a full injury report, but that he hoped it was just a precautionary measure for a groin pull that happened on Zucker's first shift.

Zucker's injury explains why he appeared to be having a rough game in the first. He wasn't strong on the puck, and it seemed like every time he was behind the net one of the Columbus players had him face first on the ice. Luckily the Wild are still have almost 3 weeks of training camp left, so Zucker should be able to make a return to the ice even if the pull is more serious than originally thought.

Top prospect Charlie Coyle had a rough start to the game as well. He seemed uncertain about how to adjust to his new role as a centerman (at least for camp), and it took a full period for him to start looking like the Charlie Coyle fans know and love.

To be fair, the Blue Jackets did an excellent job of covering him, and doing their best to ensure that he had zero room to move once he had the puck. However, in the 3^rd Coyle managed to pull off a few moves that were somewhat reminiscent of THE SHIFT.

Marco Scandella also had a really rough night, and looked like a shadow of the player he was in the Chicago playoff series last season. He went in to full panic mode multiple times during the game, and was scrambling all over the ice trying to force plays that just weren't going to happen. Everyone is entitled to a few rough games here and there, but Scandella needs to be careful because there are a lot of guys trying to make this team on the blue line.

Jake Dowell decided to show his toughness last night by dropping the gloves in the 1^st with Cody Bass. Dowell easily won the first (they actually went two rounds at once, with Dowell winning both), but honestly that is not what the team needs. It looks like Iowa may have found their replacement for Drew Bagnall.

Kyle Brodziak was also somewhat disappointing last night. He looked great to start with, but for the last half of the game he really looked like he did last season. Which is really not good for him, or the team.

There were a lot of positives last night however. The Wild had a lot of really good chances that given a bit more time to practice most likely would have turned into a few more goals. It's really important for people to remember that this was the first pre-season game, and that the team has only been practicing for a total of 5 days prior to yesterday.

On the forward side, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund looked phenomenal, especially together. It's very nice to see two extremely skilled, but young players developing chemistry this early into training camp.  If they continue to grow throughout camp, both guys will have a strong case to make the team.

Granlund looks completely different than he did last season. Instead of a somewhat meek and slow, hesitant player on the ice who routinely gets thrown to the ice and losses his stick, Granlund is quicker, stronger, and managed to only drop his stick a few times last night.

He was throwing himself into hits last night as well (think Jared Spurgeon last season in terms of hits. You don't expect it often, but when he does it's amazing). Granlund was positively dangerous on open ice. He won 50% of his faceoffs, but it would be nice to see that number go up a bit.

Neiderreiter was probably the best forward on the ice. He was always battling, always throwing pucks towards the net, trying to break up plays, and just buzzing on the ice last night. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with on this team, no question about it.

Matt Cooke played an excellent game last night. Regardless on your opinion on his past, he has shown already that he is a great hockey player. His shifts on the PK last night were great, and overall he had a very solid game that made him one of the top players overall for the Wild.

Mathew Dumba looked very good last night as well. He recorded the highest number of shots on net for the Wild, and didn't look out of place on his paring with Keith Ballard. It's tough to weigh what the best option for him would be between returning to juniors or burning a year of his ELC to suit up for the Wild.

He certainly made a few mistakes, but he didn't look out of place in his first somewhat professional game. The Wild will definitely use the "free" nine game clause with him again this season, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him actually playing in those games. He was the best defenseman on the ice last night, and is working his way in to being one of the best defenders in camp. The 55/2 pairing was excellent last night.

The Wild ended the night with 21 shots on goal. Scandella and Dumba topped the time in minuets with over 22and a half each. Coyle topped the forwards with 21:38 and Granlund rounded out the over 20 minutes club with 20:11.

The Wild are on a mandatory off day per the CBA today, but will jump back into practice tomorrow morning before heading to Winnipeg for tomorrow night. We'll have coverage of the practice tomorrow on twitter and another game thread tomorrow night. Rumor has it that a Canadian station will be having video coverage of the game tomorrow, so there may be a feed sneaking around the internet for it. Otherwise, make sure to tune into Wild.com or KFAN for the audio.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes

September 18, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
PNC Arena - Raleigh, North Carolina
Radio - None - TV - None
Opponents Blog: Canes Country
SBNation Game Page

The Jackets' camp contingent plays its third game in two nights, going up against the Hurricanes who are making their preseason debut. The Jackets cut their roster down by five, sending Oliver Bjorkstrand, Dillon Heatherington, Oscar Dansk, Josh Anderson, and Nick Moutrey back to their junior clubs.

Carolina will ice several of their bigger names, including Eric Staal, Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner, and Cam Ward. Also playing will be top draft pick Elias Lindholm. For Columbus, Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik are back in action. Curtis McElhinney will get the nod again tonight, backed up by Mike McKenna.

Of note is the Columbus defense contingent, which features four of the likely regulars in Fedor Tyutin, Nikita Nikitin, Tim Erixon, and Jack Johnson.

This game isn't on TV or radio, but it appears the Jackets' website will stream audio via their game blog.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(2-1-0 in pre-season)

*Note: there weren't line combinations, so much as a list of skaters sent to Carolina

Forwards
Alex Aleardi
Sean Collins
Ryan Craig
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Marian Gaborik
Boone Jenner
Ryan Johansen
Andrew Joudrey
Derek MacKenzie
Kerby Rychel
Jack Skille

Defense
Tim Erixon
Jack Johnson
Thomas Larkin
Nikita Nikitin
David Savard
Fedor Tyutin

Goaltenders
Curtis McElhinney
Mike McKenna

Carolina Hurricanes
(0-0-0 in pre-season)

Game Notes

This is the first of two preseason matchups for these two squads, who will get to know each other quite well in the new divisional format.

The Jackets are right back at it tonight, against one of their new division-mates.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes

September 18, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
PNC Arena - Raleigh, North Carolina
Radio - None - TV - None
Opponents Blog: Canes Country
SBNation Game Page

The Jackets' camp contingent plays its third game in two nights, going up against the Hurricanes who are making their preseason debut. The Jackets cut their roster down by five, sending Oliver Bjorkstrand, Dillon Heatherington, Oscar Dansk, Josh Anderson, and Nick Moutrey back to their junior clubs.

Carolina will ice several of their bigger names, including Eric Staal, Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner, and Cam Ward. Also playing will be top draft pick Elias Lindholm. For Columbus, Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik are back in action. Curtis McElhinney will get the nod again tonight, backed up by Mike McKenna.

Of note is the Columbus defense contingent, which features four of the likely regulars in Fedor Tyutin, Nikita Nikitin, Tim Erixon, and Jack Johnson.

This game isn't on TV or radio, but it appears the Jackets' website will stream audio via their game blog.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(2-1-0 in pre-season)

*Note: there weren't line combinations, so much as a list of skaters sent to Carolina

Forwards
Alex Aleardi
Sean Collins
Ryan Craig
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Marian Gaborik
Boone Jenner
Ryan Johansen
Andrew Joudrey
Derek MacKenzie
Kerby Rychel
Jack Skille

Defense
Tim Erixon
Jack Johnson
Thomas Larkin
Nikita Nikitin
David Savard
Fedor Tyutin

Goaltenders
Curtis McElhinney
Mike McKenna

Carolina Hurricanes
(0-0-0 in pre-season)

Game Notes

This is the first of two preseason matchups for these two squads, who will get to know each other quite well in the new divisional format.

The Carolina Hurricanes had some good and some bad to their game as they dropped a high scoring affair to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4 on Wednesday night at the PNC Arena.

Alexander Semin scored twice for the home team while Jeremy Welsh and Eric Staal added one goal apiece in the losing effort.

Head coach Kirk Muller said after the game that he was hoping for a bit more intensity from some of his players, but for the most part seemed happy with the overall effort.

"Early on I thought we were okay, playing smart and steady, but it kind of got away from us.  So, intensity level overall as a game, it wasn't an intense first game," the coach said.

Cam Ward went the distance for the Canes, but was not on his "A" game.  When asked about Ward's performance the coach just said that it had been a long time since the goalie had been in a game.  They plan on him getting plenty of work this preseason.

Semin opened the scoring on a powerplay chance with a nice sniper type shot from the circle area.  Michal Jordan got the assist.

Columbus came right back though with two straight goals.  The first one by Boone Jenner was a wide open rebound attempt at Ward's doorstep.  The next was similar to the first as Marian Gaborik knocked in an open shot from in close.

The Canes went into the dressing room at the end of the first period outshooting the visitors 15-7 while losing on the scoreboard 2-1, but they came out with jump in the second and scored twice within 1:10.

Jeremy Welsh roofed a nice backhand shot in the net after being set up nicely by Chris Terry.  Then Semin skated the puck into the Jackets' zone and rifled a shot topshelf into the net.

Eric Staal would make it 4-2 just 7:23 into the second when he knocked in a rebound from a Jay Harrison shot.

But Columbus scored three straight goals to take the lead and the game with one goal later in the second and two in the third.

The Hurricanes took too many penalties in this one and were called for seven minors, including one for too many men on the ice as well as a delay of game call on Semin for having his jersey tucked in.  They went 1-4 while on the powerplay and allowed 1-7 while shorthanded.

The team left for Buffalo as soon as the game was over and will play the next three nights in a row on the road.

The team will leave for Buffalo after the two groups skate in the morning.

Game Notes:

• Ryan Murphy led all Hurricanes with 22:51 of ice time.  He finished at +1. Jack Johnson had 28:02 of ice time for the Jackets.
• The team had 34 shots on goal with several players at three each.  While being outshot 26-15 after two periods, the Jackets poured it on in the third and ended up at just a 34-31 disadvantage.
• Carolina was credited with 22 hits led by Tim Gleason with seven and Drayson Bowman with five.
• The Canes only had nine blocked shots compared to 24 for Columbus.
• Elias Lindholm was impressive in the circle and won a team high 67% of his faceoffs. (8 of 12)
• The coach said he was still looking for certain guys to "stand out".

Who is this guy?

Adam Payerl is a 6'3" 218lbs Center with "about 8 percent body fat" from Kitchener, Ontario who went undrafted through his final 3 seasons in the OHL and signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent in 2012.

What are they saying about him?

Payerl was the talk of the town in Prospect Development Camp back in July. All of the team staff and much of the media had nothing but positive things to say about him. Assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald said "He's big, he can skate and shoot the puck. He bangs, he crashes. He's a guy you believe could fill a role at the bottom of your lineup." WBS Assistant Coach Alain Nasreddine said "Don't forget that name, because you're going to see him at some point in the NHL" and WBS Head Coach John Hynes added "He can compete for an opportunity to play in Pittsburgh right now." Director of Player Development Bill Guerin said:

"Adam Payerl, you can tell, looks like he's in great shape. Six-three, 225, and has about 8 percent body fat. And he's moving really well. Adam Payerl is just one of those guys who has really stood out, I think the way that he played in the playoffs is something we could use. He has size, and the way he skates with that size is impressive. He'd be a great guy to have as the first guy on the forecheck. From the beginning of last year to the beginning of this year, he's made the biggest strides."

He has been noted mostly for his size and his willingness to hit, as well as his physicality that allows him to fight for the puck and win battles in the dirty areas in the corners and along the boards. His offensive skill set isn't particularly suited to a top scoring line NHL role, but he fancies himself a Power Forward and has shown a willingness to crash the net and create plays from the crease. But with his size and strength, and his decent speed and skating ability, he could excel in the Penguins forechecking system. His gritty and physical nature could make him an ideal candidate to add physicality to the Check line. His OHL scouting profile said "He can play any forward position and is a big body who can take the puck to the net. He'll stick up for his teammates, forecheck hard and plays both ends of the ice pretty well."

Where has he been?

Payerl started out at 16 playing for the OHL Barrie Colts, where he spent his first two seasons. He was not a standout on the team, and the team itself was not particularly effective, but the following season he got traded to the Belleville Bulls. He played with former Pens pick Andy Bathgate and strangely enough was one of the team's top scorers, finishing #4 in both Goals and Points. His 2nd year with the team and 4th in the OHL he started to shift away from trying to be a skill player and focus on using his size to play a physical role, dropping down to #7 in Goals and Points but jumping up to #3 in Penalty Minutes.

That summer after going undrafted he was free to sign with teams as a free agent and attended the Columbus Blue Jackets camp, getting cut after 2 1/2 weeks. He signed on to the OHL Belleville for a final season and found his balance, achieving career highs in Goals, #4 on the team, Points, #3 on the team, Penalty Minutes, #1 on the team, and Plus/Minus, #6 on the team. Shortly after the season ended he was signed by the Penguins and skated with the WBS Baby Pens for 2 games that Spring.

Last year he made his professional debut playing for the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. After being bounced up and down a could times he stuck with the AHL WBS Baby Pens following the end of the lockout. He steadily improved throughout the season and by the playoffs was a staple of the Check line and widely regarded as one of the best players on the team.

When can we expect to see him?

Due to Cap constraints and a relative lack of openings on the roster, Payerl is destined to head back to WBS this fall. Based on the combos they have used thus far in Camp he may very well be used as a Top 6 Power Forward in WBS this year, although they could also make a decently offensively capable and defensively sound Check line if they choose to utilize it as a 3rd line.

He is supposedly one of the top choices to be used as a call-up this season if the injury bug strikes again. However with the Cap situation the way it is, there are a number of veterans making league minimum that could provide more affordable and experienced backups. However, with more roster space up for grabs next year and an uncertain Cap ceiling he could be pushing for a roster spot on the team, so I'll give him 1-2 years before we see him in Pittsburgh.

Why is he #6?

Payerl received 2 votes for 2nd, 2 votes for 5th, 1 vote for 6th, 1 vote for 12th, 1 vote for 20th, 1 vote for 25th, and 1 omitted him from the Top 25.

How can he climb the list?

Payerl is already pretty high on the list, so the main thing he needs to do is prove he can live up to the hype he generated in Prospect Development Camp. Once he hits the NHL it will go a long way towards raising his profile. He also needs to show that he can continue to improve on his performance in the playoffs last season. And if he really wants to be seen as a Power Forward or contribute to the Check line he will need to improve his offensive skill.

Training camp has begun! The Jackets are back on the ice, and as the regular season creeps ever nearer, the procrastinator in me realizes that I still have a few of these left to do. Zoinks!

The Capitals are rekindling some old rivalries in the new Metro division, and so perhaps they haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the Blue Jackets. We hope to change that this year.

Rob Parker (@RobParker_JR) is one of the Associate Editors of Japers' Rink, SBNation's Capitals site. He was gracious enough to take some time out to chat about the Caps with me. Along the way, we covered some very important ground:

• The Caps fans' feelings about the new look division
• The rekindling of the league's stroke-fest of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin
• The changes from Bruce Boudreau to Adam Oates
• Whether or not these Caps are legit now that they're out of the Southeast Division, and whether they can win in the playoffs
• Who is their goalie of choice, and what do they do with Michael Nuevirth?
• How does Brooks Laich fit in now that he's healthy and they've added Martin Erat and Mikhail Grabovski?
• Whither Jason Chimera?
• Do they still hate R.J. Umberger?
• Rob is forced to make some tough decisions about Ovechkin, Peter Bondra, and Mike Gartner
• What's a good bar to get thrown out of on 7th Ave. in DC?
• Jack Johnson is a [insert your adjective of choice and watch fight in comments ensue] hockey player

All this, and so much more! Enjoy!

If the player above isn't working, you can download this episode (right click and save) as well. Also, the podcast is available in iTunes. If that's your bag, simply search for us in iTunes and subscribe!

Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins

September 21st, 2013 - 4:00pm EDT

CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh PA
Radio - None TV - NHL Network US via ROOT Sports
Opponent's Blog: Pensburgh

With much of the fat trimmed from the roster after last Thursday's game in Carolina, the Jackets are taking on a lean, hungry shape as they prepare for the start of the regular season.

Today's matinee game will be an interesting challenge. No-pregame skate, no morning warmups. Eat breakfast, have a team meeting, fly to the 'Burgh, get lost on roads laid out by a blind surveyor and his hallucinating assistants, get to the CEC, have another team meeting, then suit up and go to work.

Oh, and it's guaranteed to be a packed house. Something tells me they won't be on our side.

The other interesting story floating around this game is the news the Curtis McEllhinney is unexpectedly on the shelf, so there's suddenly a bit of unexpected competition for the #2 slot to start the season.

Pittsburgh has already announced that Marc-Andre Fleurywill start and expects to play the full game. Bob is going to start across from him, but if the Jackets get up (or down) by a fair margin after 40 minutes, do you give Smith a chance to shine in game action? I'm really curious to see how much more action Smith and McKenna will get before all is said and done.

This is also a big game for the remaining "bubble guys" on the squad. People like Boone Jenner, Jack Skille, David Savard, and Ilari Melart are being given a big opportunity to show what they can do against a squad that may be lacking Crosby, but has Malkin, Letang, Neal, Dupuis, Orpik, and Jussi Jokinen in their own barn.

Holding your own will get noticed. Making an impact in a game like this could be the difference between Springfield and Columbus.

Carpe Diem.

Projected Lineups

(All lines are best guesses based on media reports of the game rosters)

Columbus Blue Jackets (3-1-0 in pre-season)

Cam Atkinson - Brandon Dubinsky - Marian Gaborik
Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - R. J. Umberger
Nick Foligno - Mark Letestu - Jack Skille
Ryan Craig - Derek MacKenzie - Jared Boll / Michael Chaput

Fedor Tyutin / Jack Johnson
Ryan Murray / Ilari Melart
Tim Erixon / David Savard
Will Weber

Sergei Bobrovsky
Jeremy Smith

Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-1)

James Neal - Evgeni Malkin - Jussi Jokinen
Pascal Dupuis - Chuck Kobasew - Dustin Jeffrey
Craig Adams - Brandon Sutter - Tanner Glass
Harry Zolnierczyk - Zach Sill - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik / Kris Letang
Paul Martin / Rob Scuderi
Olli Maatta / Paul Martin
Robert Bortuzzo

Marc-Andre Fleury
Jeff Zatkoff

Game Notes:

• As mentioned above this game will be the Penguins' annual "Kids game", where all tickets were given away to local youth hockey organizations. This is fantastic, and I'd love it if the Jackets took a page from their playbook and organized something similar here.
• Given that Boll and Zolnierczyk are both dressed, I'd call the forecast for this match "Goony with a chance of Fisticuffs."
• Both teams are coming off an idle day following Thursday matches, with the Jackets defeating Carolina and Pittsburgh topping Chicago. The Penguins had a rest day on Friday, the Jackets held a practice.
• The game will be broadcast on NHL Network in the US, which is picking up the ROOT Sports feed.
• At 3-1-0, the Jackets are currently the top team in the Metro. This means absolutely nothing, but it's still nice. More interesting is the fact that their 14 GF is currently the best in the Eastern Conference, but the 12 GA wold have them in some hot water.
• Mike Lange will probably say something ridiculous when a guy does a thing.

The Final Four starts now, as the Blue Jackets enter the second week of exhibition games with today's matinee against the Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins

September 21st, 2013 - 4:00pm EDT

CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh PA
Radio - None TV - NHL Network US via ROOT Sports
Opponent's Blog: Pensburgh

With much of the fat trimmed from the roster after last Thursday's game in Carolina, the Jackets are taking on a lean, hungry shape as they prepare for the start of the regular season.

Today's matinee game will be an interesting challenge. No-pregame skate, no morning warmups. Eat breakfast, have a team meeting, fly to the 'Burgh, get lost on roads laid out by a blind surveyor and his hallucinating assistants, get to the CEC, have another team meeting, then suit up and go to work.

Oh, and it's guaranteed to be a packed house. Something tells me they won't be on our side.

The other interesting story floating around this game is the news the Curtis McEllhinney is unexpectedly on the shelf, so there's suddenly a bit of unexpected competition for the #2 slot to start the season.

Pittsburgh has already announced that Marc-Andre Fleurywill start and expects to play the full game. Bob is going to start across from him, but if the Jackets get up (or down) by a fair margin after 40 minutes, do you give Smith a chance to shine in game action? I'm really curious to see how much more action Smith and McKenna will get before all is said and done.

This is also a big game for the remaining "bubble guys" on the squad. People like Boone Jenner, Jack Skille, David Savard, and Ilari Melart are being given a big opportunity to show what they can do against a squad that may be lacking Crosby, but has Malkin, Letang, Neal, Dupuis, Orpik, and Jussi Jokinen in their own barn.

Holding your own will get noticed. Making an impact in a game like this could be the difference between Springfield and Columbus.

Carpe Diem.

Projected Lineups

(All lines are best guesses based on media reports of the game rosters)

Columbus Blue Jackets (3-1-0 in pre-season)

Cam Atkinson - Brandon Dubinsky - Marian Gaborik
Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - R. J. Umberger
Nick Foligno - Mark Letestu - Jack Skille
Ryan Craig - Derek MacKenzie - Jared Boll / Michael Chaput

Fedor Tyutin / Jack Johnson
Ryan Murray / Ilari Melart
Tim Erixon / David Savard
Will Weber

Sergei Bobrovsky
Jeremy Smith

Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-1)

James Neal - Evgeni Malkin - Jussi Jokinen
Pascal Dupuis - Chuck Kobasew - Dustin Jeffrey
Craig Adams - Brandon Sutter - Tanner Glass
Harry Zolnierczyk - Zach Sill - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik / Kris Letang
Paul Martin / Rob Scuderi
Olli Maatta / Paul Martin
Robert Bortuzzo

Marc-Andre Fleury
Jeff Zatkoff

Game Notes:

• As mentioned above this game will be the Penguins' annual "Kids game", where all tickets were given away to local youth hockey organizations. This is fantastic, and I'd love it if the Jackets took a page from their playbook and organized something similar here.
• Given that Boll and Zolnierczyk are both dressed, I'd call the forecast for this match "Goony with a chance of Fisticuffs."
• Both teams are coming off an idle day following Thursday matches, with the Jackets defeating Carolina and Pittsburgh topping Chicago. The Penguins had a rest day on Friday, the Jackets held a practice.
• The game will be broadcast on NHL Network in the US, which is picking up the ROOT Sports feed.
• At 3-1-0, the Jackets are currently the top team in the Metro. This means absolutely nothing, but it's still nice. More interesting is the fact that their 14 GF is currently the best in the Eastern Conference, but the 12 GA wold have them in some hot water.
• Mike Lange will probably say something ridiculous when a guy does a thing.

The "Let's go Pens" chants were raining down an octave higher during the "Free Game for Kids", beginning at the awkwardest of afternoon hours. Jussi Jokinen would start on Evgeni Malkin's left which would prove to the Pens best move of the night.

The Blue Jackets jumped on the board quickly, courtesy of Brandon Dubinsky. Commence the Marc-Andre Fleury hate-fest, especially since he, once again, allowed a goal on the first shot of the game. If we're going to be fair, though, the Brooks Orpik screen wasn't helping either. Not long after, Harry Zolnierczyk and Jack Skille had a scary collision that consisted of Zolnierczyk doing an ugly McKayla Maroney impression. Luckily he returned to the game not long after.

Before we knew it, the Jackets had two goals on three shots. Spoiler alert: they would only register two more shots in the period. Match that with the Pens total 15 shots, and you can see there was some offensive frustration. Multiple power plays and an extended 5-on-3 triggered some amazing chances with some pretty passing plays, but nothing to show for it. Evgeni Malkin was a star throughout, but Sergei Bobrovsky was even better.

Into the second, Malkin's magic rubbed off on Jokinen who netted three goals in eight minutes for the natural hattrick. That second goal was straight of a highlight reel. Great stuff from Malkin's line overall that clearly dominated the period. However, honorable mention to Rob Scuderi, our favorite "Piece", who made his presence known with a great diving play in front of Fleury to stifle a sure Jackets goal.

The ice was heavily slanted in the Pens' direction going into the third but evened out fairly quickly. Then the Jackets took the lead when a wrap around hit Orpik's shin. Unlucky, but not a good night for Orpik who played a significant role in three of the Jackets' four goals. The Jackets completely controlled the rest of game, the opportunities that came to the Pens just not there anymore. Any opportunities came from the stick of Malkin, but it wouldn't be enough.

A few more notes:

• Olli Maatta had a quiet but great game. Logged 19:10 of ice time and wasn't too noticeable which is a great thing for a young defenseman.
• Usually coaches will switch up their goalies in the third period, but Fleury stayed in the entire game. He had a solid second period so a part of me wonders if he kept him in with the hopes that a win would boost his confidence.
• Jokinen's big night definitely makes things interesting for Beau Bennett who practically inked his name beside Malkin in the lineup. I'm sure we'll see both of them at different points of the season.

Overall, a lot of great things came out of this night, unfortunately the score wasn't one of them. Chicago comes to town Monday.

Go Pens.

We're trying out some new things for a new season, as you've surely noticed the awesome material that TKN and Natasha have been adding for us. Another such feature is going to be bringing Mike Darnay into the fold. If you haven't crossed paths with him, he's very active on twitter and an accomplished photographer. He likes to mix it up and is good at making GIF's, images and all sorts of stuff. I'm not exactly sure how this is going to end up with what he'll be contributing, but we're definitely looking to keep adding more and better content and awesome stuff. So enjoy!

Today's "GIF of the game" (note: may not be every game, but we're working on it) comes from last night's 5-3 loss to the Blue Jackets. The game itself wasn't terribly memorable, aside from the natural hat trick by Jussi Jokinen. Jokinen was fed beautifully by Evgeni Malkin here, then made no mistakes beating last year's Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky for a goal.

It sure was pretty. Go Pens.

Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

September 23, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 FM - TV - None
Opponents Blog: Hockey Wilderness
SBNation Game Page
Tickets

Fresh off another nice win in Pittsburgh over the weekend, the Jackets play their sixth game of an eight game exhibition schedule tonight at home against the Wild. This is the second matchup (in what is a theme this pre-season) of the pre-season between these two, with Columbus taking the first game last week up in St. Paul.

Sergei Bobrovsky is going to start again (in part because we're getting close to crunch time, and in part because of the injury to Curtis McElhinney), coming off a rousing third period performance on Saturday against Pittsburgh in which he held the door shut against an onslaught of shots.

And, to be frank, this is a game the Jackets should win handily, when one looks at the lineups being iced tonight. To say the Wild are, how you say, mailing it in would be an understatement. Somehow they've cobble together enough "regulars" to meet requirements, but if you're going down to the game with any expectations of seeing Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Jason Pominville, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, or Niklas Backstrom, well... you're going to be disappointed.

In some good news for the Jackets, Dalton Prout is back in the lineup after tearing his abdominal muscle this summer. When hearing Prout talk about what this injury actually *was* (think: attachment tissue of muscle to pelvic bone TEARING OFF OF PELVIC BONE) and realizing that he's going to play tonight... wow. I want to know who his doctor is and what kind of vitamins he takes.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(4-1-0 in pre-season)
Note: These lines are my hunches based on previous lineups this pre-season

Minnesota Wild
(2-1-0 in pre-season)

Extra: Zack Phillips

Extra: Mathew Dumba

Game Notes

• My hunch is that Todd Richards keeps Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, and Marian Gaborik together. To say they've been good together would be an understatement. For the 20-year-old Jenner, this camp has been everything he could have hoped it would be, and he's legitimately pushing for a roster spot.
• I'm curious to see how tentative Dalton Prout may be tonight. There's always that mental hurdle coming back from injury, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that the specter of Matt Cooke in the lineup for the Wild didn't terrify me, since that's the kind of line I expect Prout's pair to see a lot of tonight.
• Can the Jackets keep from getting out-shot by such a crazy margin? Saturday was rough, in that the Jackets allowed Bobrovsky to face 41 shots, and the Jackets were outshot 41-23. That was the Penguins, yes, but as good as Bob was last season, it's not a recipe for success.

It's a return trip to Columbus for the Wild, after the Jackets knocked them off 3-1 in Minnesota last week.

Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

September 23, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - None - TV - None
Opponents Blog: Hockey Wilderness
SBNation Game Page

Fresh off another nice win in Pittsburgh over the weekend, the Jackets play their sixth game of an eight game exhibition schedule tonight at home against the Wild. This is the second matchup (in what is a theme this pre-season) of the pre-season between these two, with Columbus taking the first game last week up in St. Paul.

Sergei Bobrovsky is going to start again (in part because we're getting close to crunch time, and in part because of the injury to Curtis McElhinney), coming off a rousing third period performance on Saturday against Pittsburgh in which he held the door shut against an onslaught of shots.

And, to be frank, this is a game the Jackets should win handily, when one looks at the lineups being iced tonight. To say the Wild are, how you say, mailing it in would be an understatement. Somehow they've cobble together enough "regulars" to meet requirements, but if you're going down to the game with any expectations of seeing Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Jason Pominville, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, or Niklas Backstrom, well... you're going to be disappointed.

In some good news for the Jackets, Dalton Prout is back in the lineup after tearing his abdominal muscle this summer. When hearing Prout talk about what this injury actually *was* (think: attachment tissue of muscle to pelvic bone TEARING OFF OF PELVIC BONE) and realizing that he's going to play tonight... wow. I want to know who his doctor is and what kind of vitamins he takes.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(4-1-0 in pre-season)
Note: These lines are my hunches based on previous lineups this pre-season

Minnesota Wild
(2-1-0 in pre-season)

Extra: Zack Phillips

Extra: Mathew Dumba

Game Notes

• My hunch is that Todd Richards keeps Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, and Marian Gaborik together. To say they've been good together would be an understatement. For the 20-year-old Jenner, this camp has been everything he could have hoped it would be, and he's legitimately pushing for a roster spot.
• I'm curious to see how tentative Dalton Prout may be tonight. There's always that mental hurdle coming back from injury, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that the specter of Matt Cooke in the lineup for the Wild didn't terrify me, since that's the kind of line I expect Prout's pair to see a lot of tonight.
• Can the Jackets keep from getting out-shot by such a crazy margin? Saturday was rough, in that the Jackets allowed Bobrovsky to face 41 shots, and the Jackets were outshot 41-23. That was the Penguins, yes, but as good as Bob was last season, it's not a recipe for success.

Montreal needs a statement game, and to have one, they're going to avoid underestimating the Blue Jackets.

On October 17, the Canadiens welcomed the Blue Jackets to the Bell Centre. Columbus arrived in La Belle Province toward the end of a run of particularly strong results for the Habs, and Montreal would do away with the Jackets as the had most of their opponents to-date.

Montreal jumped out to a 3-0 lead that night, before Columbus climbed back in, eventually tying up the match at 3-3. It would only be in the final minutes that Tomas Plekanec would take matters into his own hands, beating Sergei Bobrovsky with a long, screened wrister. Less than minute later, Plekanec would break up the Jackets' final effort, putting in an empty-netter as the the clock wound down and sealing up a 5-3 victory for the Habs.

On that night, the Canadiens had the benefit of not facing one of the Blue Jackets' most dangerous scorers, Marian Gaborik. In Gaborik's stead, the Columbus' young guns stepped out, with Boone Jenner coming away with a particularly successful evening. Tonight, in contrast, the Slovak winger will be available for the Jackets, while the former 37th overall pick will not.

The Habs may also enjoy the benefit of taking on Columbus back-up goaltender this evening, as the likely Olympic starter for Team Russia took on the Bruins last night. Assuming that Bob doesn't go again tonight, that would leave Curtis McElhinney left to shoulder the load this evening. McElhinney, who played for the Senators and Coyotes in recent years, has already played three starts for his new team, earning a .931 save percentage but only a 1-2 record. While McElhinney is a journeyman, he was solid in starts in Springfield of the AHL last year, and has been decent so far this year. It will bear watching if McElhinney can keep pace with Canadiens back-up Peter Budaj this evening.

Budaj has been remarkably solid when filling in for Carey Price, as he will be for tonight's game. Budaj has a .953 save percentage in his three starts so far this year, and has won two of those games. While he doesn't quite the provide the comfort and confidence that Price's presence in the crease does, Budaj has given as much as one can ask of a back-up goaltender in his recent play. By virtue of his former employment with the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus' former residence in the Western Conference, Budaj is quite familiar with Nationwide Arena and its inhabitants. Saint Peter has made 12 starts against Columbus in his career, achieving a save percentage of .921 while winning seven of those matchups.

While the Habs have had to cope with an injured roster for most of the year, the Blue Jackets have coped with some missed man-games of their own. While Gaborik was injured in the earlier part of the year and has since returned, the aforementioned Jenner has taken his spot of the IR. Meanwhile, speedy winger Matt Calvert is still recovering the surgery he underwent just prior to the Jackets' last game with the Habs, while big free agent signee Nathan Horton is still yet to play a game. The Canadiens are slowly returning to health, but will still be without Brandon Prust and Alexei Emelin as they aim to return for Saturday's game with the Rangers. With Gabriel Dumont returned to the Hamilton Bulldogs, George Parros looks likely to play on the fourth line. Similarly, with no other option available to the big league squad at the moment, Michel Therrien will likely be forced to ice the beloved pair of Bouillon and Murray once again.

For more on the Jackets, including reaction from last night's clash with the Boston Bruins, head to The Cannon.

More from Eyes On The Prize:

• Why the rumour that Max Pacioretty will be traded for Evander Kane is nonsense
• Contest: Win a Habs Domo plush
• Akim Aliu released from his professional tryout by the Hamilton Bulldogs
• 24CH Recap: S02 E06 - Start spreading the (bad) news
• Hamilton Bulldogs early season report: The good, the bad, and the Lefebvre
• Bulldogs disappoint children on "school day", lose fifth straight
• Prust nearing a return, Dumont and Pateryn back with the Bulldogs
• Thursday Habs Links: Sven Andrighetto shining in Hamilton

The Jackets have been on a real skid lately. I offer up some hope for this season.

The Jackets have gone 3-5-2 in their last ten games, and currently sit last in the Metro Division with an overall record of 6-10-2. If not for the retooling/rebuilding Sabres and Panthers, the Jackets would be the worst team in the Eastern Conference, and we're almost at the quarter pole of the season.

But you already knew that.

The good thing thus far is that, generally speaking, the Jackets have not been completely outplayed. Sure, there were stinkers against the Capitals and Senators among the ten regulation losses this year, but in the other eight regulation losses and two overtime defeats, the Jackets were competitive and kept things close.

The three nemeses for the Jackets thus far have been the Caps, Bruins and Penguins.This trio of teams have combined to go 6-0 against Columbus this season, and if you're looking for some optimism, these three teams are among the elite of the Eastern Conference, so losing to them isn't like losing to teams you should absolutely defeat. Right? I know, small consolation. Bear with me.

In the other six losses, the Jackets were defeated by the Flames, Red Wings, Canadiens, Ducks, Senators and Rangers. Half of those losses were one-goal games. Two more were one goal games with the opposition scoring an empty-netter. The last loss was the aforementioned stinker against the Sens, where Curtis McElhinney looked shaky, at best.

The six victories this season have been for the most part against quality competition. The Jackets have beaten the division rival Isles twice, and have wins over New Jersey, Buffalo, Vancouver and Toronto. The latter two wins being far from automatic.

From a personnel perspective, there have been signs that not all is lost. Brandon Dubinsky is having a breakout season. You can see game-by-game that he is laying it all on the line for his team, winning battles, putting up points, doing it all. It's almost offensive that this effort, not to mention the way he takes responsibility for the team in the media, isn't solidified and honored by giving him the role of team Captain. Maybe some day we'll find out why Richards has been putting it off, but until then, I look at it as a complete distraction and disservice.

The Ryans- that is, Johansen and Murray, have been terrific. Johansen has arrived as a top-line center- he's taken the next step toward becoming the big, strong pivot that every team covets. Murray has been the team's most reliable defenseman. While I'm not ignorant to the fact that Murray's success may be partially due to the struggles of his cohorts on defense, he nonetheless deserves full credit for his steady play, willingness and ability to pinch offensively, and his calming influence on the ice. One also can't forget that he's got one of the toughest assignments in all of hockey- covering for James Wisniewski. All of this at just 20 years old.

Maintaining the positive outlook, the fill-in players and grinders have contributed with energy and work ethic. Michael Chaput may be the logical successor to Derek MacKenzie when the latter's contract expires at season's end, and Sean Collins has been a good soldier when needed. Jared Boll, contract aside, brings required toughness. That's his job, and he does it well. Blake Comeau's done admirably as well, though a slight up-tick in production would be welcome.

Nick Foligno, who's obviously more than a grinder, has been great, when in the lineup. It's important to send the Folignos all the positive vibes and support you can.

Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov and Cam Atkinson putting up points is crucial to the team's success. Right now, they're struggling, and the team's record is partially reflecting that. Gaborik's one of the streakiest players you'll find, so there's hope that his next scoring binge will start at any moment. Anisimov is currently Gaborik's setup man, so when Gaborik starts to heat up Arty should as well, even if just by proxy. Cam's in a great situation playing with Dubinsky and Johansen, he's far too talented to not score.

One final glimmer, dare I say, nuclear flash, of hope is the imminent return to the lineup of Boone Jenner and Matt Calvert, and the debut of offseason prize Nathan Horton. Jenner and Calvert aren't going to fix the scoring woes, but it will bring stability and a ton of energy to the lineup. The thought of a line of Horton playing right wing alongside Johansen and Dubinsky does more than give me hope for the short-term future of the team, it makes me damned giddy.

Amid all of the frustration and "same old Jackets", what I'm attempting to do here is give a glass half-full look at the situation. It's not fun right now, but all is not lost. There are good things to come, and though we are creeping toward December, the season is still early enough (and the Metro Division bad enough) that there is time to right the ship.

Hang in there CBJ fans.

The Montreal Canadiens are in desperate need of a turnaround game, can the Blue Jackets provide the fodder for them to change the direction of their season?

On October 17, the Canadiens welcomed the Blue Jackets to the Bell Centre. Columbus arrived in La Belle Province toward the end of a run of particularly strong results for the Habs, and Montreal would do away with the Jackets as the had most of their opponents to-date.

Montreal jumped out to a 3-0 lead that night, before Columbus climbed back in, eventually tying up the match at 3-3. It would only be in the final minutes that Tomas Plekanec would take matters into his own hands, beating Sergei Bobrovsky with a long, screened wrister. Less than minute later, Plekanec would break up the Jackets' final effort, putting in an empty-netter as the the clock wound down and sealing up a 5-3 victory for the Habs.

On that night, the Canadiens had the benefit of not facing one of the Blue Jackets' most dangerous scorers, Marian Gaborik. In Gaborik's stead, the Columbus' young guns stepped out, with Boone Jenner coming away with a particularly successful evening. Tonight, in contrast, the Slovak winger will be available for the Jackets, while the former 37th overall pick will not.

The Habs may also enjoy the benefit of taking on Columbus back-up goaltender this evening, as the likely Olympic starter for Team Russia took on the Bruins last night. Assuming that Bob doesn't go again tonight, that would leave Curtis McElhinney left to shoulder the load this evening. McElhinney, who played for the Senators and Coyotes in recent years, has already played three starts for his new team, earning a .931 save percentage but only a 1-2 record. While McElhinney is a journeyman, he was solid in starts in Springfield of the AHL last year, and has been decent so far this year. It will bear watching if McElhinney can keep pace with Canadiens back-up Peter Budaj this evening.

Budaj has been remarkably solid when filling in for Carey Price, as he will be for tonight's game. Budaj has a .953 save percentage in his three starts so far this year, and has won two of those games. While he doesn't quite the provide the comfort and confidence that Price's presence in the crease does, Budaj has given as much as one can ask of a back-up goaltender in his recent play. By virtue of his former employment with the Colorado Avalanche and the Columbus' former residence in the Western Conference, Budaj is quite familiar with Nationwide Arena and its inhabitants. Saint Peter has made 12 starts against Columbus in his career, achieving a save percentage of .921 while winning seven of those matchups.

While the Habs have had to cope with an injured roster for most of the year, the Blue Jackets have coped with some missed man-games of their own. While Gaborik was injured in the earlier part of the year and has since returned, the aforementioned Jenner has taken his spot of the IR. Meanwhile, speedy winger Matt Calvert is still recovering the surgery he underwent just prior to the Jackets' last game with the Habs, while big free agent signee Nathan Horton is still yet to play a game. The Canadiens are slowly returning to health, but will still be without Brandon Prust and Alexei Emelin as they aim to return for Saturday's game with the Rangers. With Gabriel Dumont returned to the Hamilton Bulldogs, George Parros looks likely to play on the fourth line. Similarly, with no other option available to the big league squad at the moment, Michel Therrien will likely be forced to ice the beloved pair of Bouillon and Murray once again.

For more on the Jackets, including reaction from last night's clash with the Boston Bruins, head to The Cannon.

More from Eyes On The Prize:

• Why the rumour that Max Pacioretty will be traded for Evander Kane is nonsense
• Contest: Win a Habs Domo plush
• Akim Aliu released from his professional tryout by the Hamilton Bulldogs
• 24CH Recap: S02 E06 - Start spreading the (bad) news
• Hamilton Bulldogs early season report: The good, the bad, and the Lefebvre
• Bulldogs disappoint children on "school day", lose fifth straight
• Prust nearing a return, Dumont and Pateryn back with the Bulldogs
• Thursday Habs Links: Sven Andrighetto shining in Hamilton

The Jackets have been tough luck losers for two road games in a row. Can they put it all together at home against the Habs?

Montreal Canadiens at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 15, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Eyes On The Prize
SBN's Canadiens vs Blue Jackets Coverage

So. just as a kickoff caveat, the lineups below are total guesses. The Jackets didn't skate this morning, and there have been no official announcements as of this time.

Despite all of our grumbling, the Jackets have points in three straight (1-0-2), and tonight would give them a chance to add to that streak. Remember, this is how it started last season: some close losses in which they earned a point, and all of a sudden that had a crazy-long points streak that pushed them back into the race. I'm not saying, just saying.

The Jackets played about as well as they can play for most of the third period last night, and though they couldn't get the game-winning goal across, you have to feel that they took some steps forward. Now, if they can just play that way for 60 minutes.

The Habs have been off since Tuesday, but they have been scuffling of late as well: 4-6-2 over their last 12 games, not exactly setting the world on fire. That said, we know a dangerous team is in there somewhere: they showed it early in the last meeting between these two clubs. If the Jackets can better navigate that first 20 minutes while they find there legs against a fast team [gulp], then I like their chances.

That said, it's a might big "if" there.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(6-10-2, 14 Points; 8th division, 14th conference)

Montreal Canadiens
(9-8-2, 20 Points; 5th Division, 7th Conference)

Season Series

10/17/13 - Columbus 3 at Montreal 5
11/15/13 - Montreal at Columbus
03/20/14 - Columbus at Montreal

Head to Head Stats

Montreal		Columbus
2.58 (17)	GPG	2.50 (20)
2.10 (4)	GAPG	2.94 (22)
23.6% (3)	PP%	17.5% (19)
85.9% (6)	PK%	80.4% (23)
Brendan Gallagher, 8	G leader	four tied, 5
P.K. Subban, 14	A leader	James Wisniewski, 12
P.K. Subban, 17	Pts leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 15
George Parros, 32	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 36
4-4-0	Road/Home	4-6-0
11/12 vs. Tampa Bay, L 2-1 (OT)	Last Game	11/14 @ Boston, L 3-2 (OT)
4-4-2	Last 10	3-5-2

Game Notes

Rather than a bulleted list, I'll just say this: this Jackets team isn't playing "badly" per se. They need to finish their chances. It won't be easy against a tough goalie who's playing well. They also need to continue to improve the sloppiness in their own zone. Montreal can punish them if they're bad in their own zone again. I feel like the Jackets *can* win this game, but they're going to have to play like they did in the first period against Detroit, and yet bury those chances. An 18-shot period with no goals just isn't going to cut it.

The Jackets have been tough luck losers for two road games in a row. Can they put it all together at home against the Habs?

Montreal Canadiens at Columbus Blue Jackets

November 15, 2013 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Eyes On The Prize
SBN's Canadiens vs Blue Jackets Coverage

So. just as a kickoff caveat, the lineups below are total guesses. The Jackets didn't skate this morning, and there have been no official announcements as of this time.

Despite all of our grumbling, the Jackets have points in three straight (1-0-2), and tonight would give them a chance to add to that streak. Remember, this is how it started last season: some close losses in which they earned a point, and all of a sudden that had a crazy-long points streak that pushed them back into the race. I'm not saying, just saying.

The Jackets played about as well as they can play for most of the third period last night, and though they couldn't get the game-winning goal across, you have to feel that they took some steps forward. Now, if they can just play that way for 60 minutes.

The Habs have been off since Tuesday, but they have been scuffling of late as well: 4-6-2 over their last 12 games, not exactly setting the world on fire. That said, we know a dangerous team is in there somewhere: they showed it early in the last meeting between these two clubs. If the Jackets can better navigate that first 20 minutes while they find there legs against a fast team [gulp], then I like their chances.

That said, it's a might big "if" there.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(6-10-2, 14 Points; 8th division, 14th conference)

Montreal Canadiens
(9-8-2, 20 Points; 5th Division, 7th Conference)

Season Series

10/17/13 - Columbus 3 at Montreal 5
11/15/13 - Montreal at Columbus
03/20/14 - Columbus at Montreal

Head to Head Stats

Montreal		Columbus
2.58 (17)	GPG	2.50 (20)
2.10 (4)	GAPG	2.94 (22)
23.6% (3)	PP%	17.5% (19)
85.9% (6)	PK%	80.4% (23)
Brendan Gallagher, 8	G leader	four tied, 5
P.K. Subban, 14	A leader	James Wisniewski, 12
P.K. Subban, 17	Pts leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 15
George Parros, 32	PIM leader	Brandon Dubinsky, 36
4-4-0	Road/Home	4-6-0
11/12 vs. Tampa Bay, L 2-1 (OT)	Last Game	11/14 @ Boston, L 3-2 (OT)
4-4-2	Last 10	3-5-2

Game Notes

Rather than a bulleted list, I'll just say this: this Jackets team isn't playing "badly" per se. They need to finish their chances. It won't be easy against a tough goalie who's playing well. They also need to continue to improve the sloppiness in their own zone. Montreal can punish them if they're bad in their own zone again. I feel like the Jackets *can* win this game, but they're going to have to play like they did in the first period against Detroit, and yet bury those chances. An 18-shot period with no goals just isn't going to cut it.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without Marian Gaborik for the next four to six weeks due to a sprained left knee.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Marian Gaborik is expected to miss 4-6 weeks because of a sprained left knee that he suffered during the their overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The Blue Jackets acquired Gaborik from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline last season and he is currently in the final year of his contract that pays him $7.5 million per year.

The 31-year-old winger has five goals and six assists in 17 games this season.

Given his contract status and the struggles of the Blue Jackets this season (they are currently in last place in the Metropolitan Division) there has been some speculation that he could be on the trade block once again this season. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch said on Thursday that, barring a "dramatic change," he doesn't see any chance the Blue Jackets attempt to re-sign Gaborik.

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