Welp. The Jackets have been Jekyl and Hyde the past few games, and another tough test comes tonight at home.
New York Islanders at Columbus Blue Jackets
January 10, 2015 - 7:00 pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Lighthouse Hockey
Come on, man.
Last night's loss hurt a bit. If you're trying to climb over teams for the playoffs, especially teams that are really struggling, the last thing you can afford to do is get smoked by those teams. After a 1-0 lead was quickly eviscerated in the first period, the Jackets are reeling just a bit as they return home to face the resurgent Islanders.
Many of us have had our worst fears realized in the last several games, even with Columbus notching wins along the way. The "fancy stats" have been unkind to the Jackets, despite them continuing to win. And, when it's come back to earth in losses, it has come back with a mighty thud. In their last three losses (wrapped around four wins), they've been outscored 16-6, and three of the Jackets' goals have come in absolute garbage time/score effects. They led in two of those games. When it goes bad, it goes really bad.
Special teams seem to be what keeps this team afloat. The Power Play has been good all year. The PK has been streaky. When it's been good (see: December), the team has been winning. When it hasn't (see: Arizona and Toronto), they lose. Grossly.
Overall, the Jackets need to figure out how not to keep getting blitzed on the shot clock. I don't know if it's more getting the puck out of their own zone with consistency (they certainly don't do it right now), or setting up in the offensive zone more (they often don't very much), but something needs to change. Many of us wondered or complained that the December run was unsustainable for the long haul because the numbers under the surface simply weren't very good, and those chickens are circling the coop looking for a place to roost, it would appear.
Both teams played last night, and there was no CBJ morning skate, so the lineups are guesses based on previous games. Speaking of lineups, the word is that the NHL will announce the All Star rosters around 6 PM.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(18-18-3, 39 Points; 5th division, 12th conference)
| Scott Hartnell | Ryan Johansen | Nick Foligno |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Sean Collins | Alexander Wennberg | Jack Skille |
| Jeremy Morin | Mark Letestu | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Kevin Connauton | James Wisniewski |
| Fedor Tyutin | Cody Goloubef |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
New York Islanders
(27-13-1, 55 Points; 1st Division, 2nd Conference)
| Josh Bailey | John Tavares | Kyle Okposo |
| Anders Lee | Frans Nielsen | Ryan Strome |
| Michael Grabner | Brock Nelson | Nikolay Kulemin |
| Matt Martin | Casey Cizikas | Cal Clutterbuck |
| Calvin de Haan | Travis Hamonic |
| Nick Leddy | Johnny Boychuk |
| Thomas Hickey | Brian Strait |
| Chad Johnson |
| Jaroslav Halak |
Season Series
01/10/15 - NY Islanders at Columbus
02/14/15 - Columbus at NY Islanders
04/02/15 - NY Islanders at Columbus
04/11/15 - Columbus at NY Islanders
Head to Head Stats
| Toronto | Columbus | |
| 2.93 (10) | GPG | 2.51 (22) |
| 2.76 (21) | GAPG | 3.20 (26) |
| 19.3% (13) | PP% | 24.3% (3) |
| 76.7% (26) | PK% | 79.0% (22) |
| John Tavares, 19 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 17 |
| Kyle Okposo, 28 | A leader | Ryan Johansen, 23 |
| John Tavares, 39 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno, 39 |
| Travis Hamonic, 54 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 56 |
| 13-9-1 | Road/Home | 9-9-2 |
| 6-3-1 | Last 10 | 6-3-1 |
| 1/9 @ New Jersey, W 3-2 (OT) | Last Game | 1/9 @ Toronto, L 5-2 |