The Jackets will need a much better effort than they showed on Thursday in a loss to the Panthers if they want to defeat the high-octane Bolts.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Tampa Bay Lightning
January 31, 2015 - 7:30 pm EST
Amalie Arena - Tampa, Florida
Radio - 97.1 The Fan - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Raw Charge
After getting Artem Anisimov back last game, the Jackets welcome back another injured regular in defenseman Ryan Murray. At this point we don't know where he'll slide into the lineup, but my guess is with Fedor Tyutin, in place of Dalton Prout.
We also don't have confirmation of the goalie matchup yet, but look for Curtis McElhinney vs. Ben Bishop.
The Jackets were sloppy Thursday in a loss to the Panthers, and they absolutely cannot continue that tonight against the Lightning. Tampa Bay is the highest scoring team in the league, with many weapons distributed throughout their lineup.
Tampa is coming off a big 5-1 victory over the Red Wings, a statement game which gave the Lightning back sole possession of first in the Eastern Conference. Cedric Paquette potted the hat trick.
Steven Stamkos is red-hot, and even if his line is shut down, the Jackets still have to deal with the very potent second line of Ondrej Palat - Tyler Johnson - Nikita Kucherov. This line has been a bit cold of late however, and the Jackets want to keep it that way.
The Jackets will need to grind and muck, forcing Tampa into making mistakes and taking penalties. Disrupting the Lightning game plan and converting on the powerplay is what Columbus needs to do to steal a victory tonight.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(21-23-3, 45 Points; 6th division, 13th conference)
| Nick Foligno | Ryan Johansen | Cam Atkinson |
| Scott Hartnell | Brandon Dubinsky | Corey Tropp |
| Matt Calvert | Artem Anisimov | Alexander Wennberg |
| Jack Skille | Mark Letestu | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Kevin Connauton | James Wisniewski |
| Fedor Tyutin | Ryan Murray |
| Curtis McElhinney |
| Anton Forsberg |
Tampa Bay Lightning
(31-15-4, 66 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)
| Valtteri Filppula | Steven Stamkos | Ryan Callahan |
| Ondrej Palat | Tyler Johnson | Nikita Kucherov |
| Alex Killorn | Cedric Paquette | Jonathan Drouin |
| J.T. Brown | Brian Boyle | Brett Connolly |
| Andrej Sustr | Victor Hedman |
| Mark Barberio | Anton Stralman |
| Jason Garrison | Nikita Nesterov |
| Ben Bishop |
| Evgeni Nabokov |
Season Series
TB - 1-1-0
CBJ - 1-1-011/08/14 - Columbus 4 vs Tampa Bay 7
12/06/14 - Columbus 3 at Tampa Bay 1
01/31/15 - Columbus at Tampa Bay
Head to Head Stats
| Tampa Bay | Columbus | |
| 3.22 (1) | GPG | 2.45 (24) |
| 2.56 (14) | GAPG | 3.13 (26) |
| 18.4% (16) | PP% | 23.3% (5) |
| 82.0% (14) | PK% | 80.2% (20) |
| Steven Stamkos, 27 | G leader | Nick Foligno / Ryan Johansen, 18 |
| Tyler Johnson, 32 | A leader | Nick Foligno, 27 |
| Tyler Johnson, 49 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno, 45 |
| Brenden Morrow, 45 | PIM leader | Jared Boll / Scott Hartnell, 65 |
| 20-4-1 | Home/Road | 11-11-1 |
| 7-3-0 | Last 10 | 4-6-0 |
| 1/29 vs. Detroit, W 5-1 | Last Game | 1/29 at Florida, L 3-2 |