The Jackets must put the triumphs of last night's win behind them and gear it right back up, as they take on the hottest team in the NHL.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks
October 24, 2014 - 10:00 pm EDT
Honda Center - Anaheim, California
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Anaheim Calling
How jumbled is the Metro and the East right now? Well, the Jackets won last night and jumped from 6th to 2nd in the Metro, and 12th to 6th in the East. Part of that is a factor of games played, but part of it also is that there's a giant crumpled heap in the middle of this conference right now. It also highlights the importance of how the Jackets are playing while they wait for some injured guys to get healthy.
At any rate, as great as last night's win was, and as important as every game is, tonight's contest is going to be that much tougher. If the Jackets come out slowly like they did last night (on top of being tired already), they will get run over. This Ducks team is firing on all cylinders right now, and after losing their first game they're ripped off six in a row.
The Jackets had an optional skate this morning, and so we don't have much to go on in the way of lineup changes. I'm leaving the projected lineups alone from yesterday, as I think Dalton Prout gets back in after Cody Goloubef had a bit of a hiccup in the third period last night. That said, with respect to who draws in on the fourth line and how the lines shake out, Todd Richards is like the Ohio weather: if you don't like it, wait five minutes.
Also, in case you've forgotten, beyond the chart below in this preview, we do not refer to certain players by their given surnames. Thanks again, Morgan.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(4-2-0, 8 Points; 2nd division, 6th conference)
| Scott Hartnell | Ryan Johansen | Nick Foligno |
| Mark Letestu | Artem Anisimov | Jack Skille |
| Matt Calvert | Alexander Wennberg | Cam Atkinson |
| Adam Cracknell | Michael Chaput | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Tim Erixon | James Wisniewski |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Anton Forsberg |
Anaheim Ducks
(6-1-0, 12 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)
| Devante Smith-Pelly | Ryan Getzlaf | Corey Perry |
| Andrew Cogliano | Ryan Kesler | Jakob Silfverberg |
| Matt Beleskey | William Karlsson | Rickard Rakell |
| Emerson Etem | Nate Thompson | Tim Jackman |
| Cam Fowler | Ben Lovejoy |
| Francois Beauchemin | Hampus Lindholm |
| Mark Fistric | Sami Vatanen |
| Frederik Andersen |
| John Gibson |
Season Series
10/24/14 - Columbus at Anaheim
03/24/15 - Anaheim at Columbus
Head to Head Stats
| Anaheim | Columbus | |
| 3.43 (3) | GPG | 3.33 (5) |
| 2.00 (10) | GAPG | 2.67 (15) |
| 21.4% (12) | PP% | 16.0% (20) |
| 85.0% (12) | PK% | 93.8% (2) |
| Corey Perry, 8 | G leader | Ryan Johansen, 5 |
| Ryan Getzlaf, 8 | A leader | Scott Hartnell, 8 |
| Ryan Getzlaf / Corey Perry, 10 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno / Ryan Johansen, 9 |
| Tim Jackman, 14 | PIM leader | Jared Boll / Jack Skille, 9 |
| 3-0-0 | Home/Road | 2-1-0 |
| 6-1-0 | Last 10 | 4-2-0 |
| 10/22 vs. Buffalo, W 4-1 | Last Game | 10/23 @ San Jose, W 5-4 |