Minnesota Wild at Columbus Blue Jackets

February 7, 2012 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD FM 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Hockey Wilderness
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It has been almost three weeks since the Union Blue has skated on home ice, what with the six-game road trip on either side of a week for the All Star Break.

It's a different sort of homecoming for coach Todd Richards and winger Colton Gillies, who are facing their former team for the first time in their new capacities. Columbus is coming off a rousing overtime win in Anaheim on Friday, with Derick Brassard carrying the torch with two goals including the OT winner. Friday also saw the return of Jeff Carter. As to whether he's "back" versus "auditioning for trade partners," who can say definitively?

The Jackets are hoping to get healthier in the near future, with James Wisniewski, Nikita Nikitin, and Mark Letestu all nearing operational status. In the meantime, Todd Richards is hinting that the lineup will stay the same as it was from Anahiem, minus Brett Lebda (thumb). Ryan Johansen appears to be sitting for his third straight game.

With Lebda out, it reshuffles the D pairs yet again. Lost in the injury melee is that John Moore stepped up and logged his career-high in minutes on Friday night. As he gets more and more responsibilities, it's hard not to feel the urge to check his development as one of the few bright spots of this otherwise horrid season.

The Wild have leveled off over the last six weeks or so, having slipped from near the top of the conference to the last playoff spot currently. Since starting out 20-7-3 through December 10, the Wild have won just five times in 22 games (5-12-5). They are, as usual, struggling to score goals, currently sitting next to last in the league on offense. This is the third and final game of a road trip for the Wild, though they've been off since Saturday. In injury news, the Wild may still be without center Mikko Koivu, who has missed seven straight with a shoulder injury.

Can the Jackets string more than one win together? It's called a winning streak. It's happened before.

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks

February 3, 2012 - 10:00pm EST
Honda Center - Anaheim, California
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Anaheim Calling

Talk about two teams heading in opposite(ish) directions. The Ducks are 9-2-1 over their last 12 games, whereas the Jackets are 3-8-1 over that span. However, bookending this for the Jackets is Jeff Carter: he separated his shoulder in the Jackets' last game in Anaheim on January 8, and tonight he's been activated from IR and will take the ice for the first time since.

However, the lineup he will rejoin is a completely different one. Scott Arrniel is gone, and Todd Richards is writing the lineups. Though it's hard to fault him for shaking things up amidst this most current (of many) slumps, but I doubt Carter expected to come back and see Colton Gillies to his left. C'est la vie...

Marc Methot skated this morning, and may be back in after his bout with the flu, though he's still officially listed as questionable. If he goes in, I suspect he pushes Grant Clitsome to the press box, but that's just my hunch.

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Los Angeles Kings

February 1, 2012 - 10:30pm EST
Staples Center - Los Angeles, California
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Jewels From The Crown

Well, right back on the horse. Although, that would imply the Jackets attempted to get on the horse at all last night in San Jose, which it was clear they did not.

Even better, the Kings are playing their first game back from the break. They haven't played since last Monday. They're rested, they're ready to make a playoff push, and they play great defense. Why is that last part relevant? Well, in case you haven't noticed, the Jackets aren't really "scoring goals" of late, with just five goals in their last five games (0-4-1). They've been shut out twice. In addition, the defense has been especially crap-tastic during that stretch, allowing 19 goals.

That ain't good, folks.

Tonight should be a little easier, as the Kings are struggling to score almost as much as the Jackets are overall. That said, the Jackets are so banged up on defense--on top of the fact that they're already just not that good--that it makes it a bit tougher. Marc Methot missed last night's game, and is questionable tonight with an illness.

Curtis Sanford will get the start in goal for Columbus tonight as well. He shut out the Kings the last time the two teams played, for whatever that's worth.

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Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks

January 31, 2012 - 10:30pm EST
HP Pavilion - San Jose, California
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Fear The Fin

Aaaaaand, we're back. The Jackets (with the exception of three wacky shoot-out attempts from Ryan Johansen) have had a week off to rest, catch a breath, and get ready for the final 33 games of the season. However, unlike most of the teams in the league, the Jackets are not gearing up for the playoffs. No, no. Here in Columbus, the focus is on... well... err...

In all seriousness, the Jackets are in the grey area between looking to get healthy and to perhaps make some strides toward respectability over the last few months of the season, and looking at a roster perhaps about to be gutted at the trading deadline.

This is the third meeting against the Sharks in less than a month, and the Jackets' second trip to the US West Coast in the same stretch. Despite the Sharks' vastly higher standing, the Jackets have played them very tough in both of the previous match-ups, each of which was a 2-1 loss.

Despite that, they limped into the break, going 0-3-1 in their last four and scoring just 5 goals along the way. So, which Jackets team will show up tonight? Who can say?

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Tampa Bay Lightning

January 24, 2012 - 7:30pm EST
Tampa Bay Times Forum - Tampa, Florida
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Raw Charge

We can't go to Florida... thats America's wang!
--Homer J. Simpson

For real. So, the Jackets finish up the "first half" tonight in Tampa Bay, against a Lightning team that has hugely disappointed after coming within a period of making the Cup Finals last season. Last year's savior Dwayne Roloson has been the culprit this year, posting THE WORST goaltending numbers in the league to this point.

The Lightning have won three in a row, but are probably as banged up as the Jackets. Missing tonight are: D Victor Hedman (concussion), D Mattias Ohlund (knee), D Marc-Andre Bergeron (upper body), C Dana Tyrell (lower body), LW Ryan Malone (upper body), RW Ryan Shannon (knee), RW Adam Hall (arm), LW J.T. Wyman (upper body), and C Tom Pyatt (lower body).

For Columbus, R.J. Umberger is back, and Tomas Kubalik is headed back to Springfield because of it. That means RyJo should be back in tonight. Hard to hate on Kubalik's performance, which is good for next season and beyond.

OK, so this game should be winnable for Columbus if they play as hard as they've been playing. That said, the Lightning are on a three-game winning streak, and are much better at home than on the road; a win for them would be a season-high four game winning streak. I guess what I'm saying is: it's a toss-up. Is Columbus already checked out for the All-Star Break, or can they muster up one more solid effort?

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Nashville Predators

January 23, 2012 - 8:00pm EST
Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, Tennessee
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: On the Forecheck

For real. I can't remember a time where the Jackets had this many injuries, all of which seem to have come from freak accidents or dirty hits. The good news is that Porty is reporting that Nikita Nikitin's knee injury doesn't appear to be serious (which, if you watch the hit, holy crap did he get lucky). That said, here's the Jackets' injury list for tonight's game:

C Derek MacKenzie (illness), probable); D James Wisniewski (left ankle), D Radek Martinek (concussion), D Nikita Nikitin (left knee), LW Kristian Huselius (groin), C Mark Letestu (right hand) and C Jeff Carter (right shoulder), out; RW R.J. Umberger (concussion, questionable

Yikes. It should be noted that the CBJ did activate Umberger from IR this morning, and also recalled Dane Byers. Given MacKenzie's illness, it wouldn't surprise me to see some shuffling of the lines below.

The Predators appear to be getting Ryan Suter back on defense. The OTF guys speculate as to whether goalie Anders Lindback might get the start tonight for Nashville, given that the Preds have another big tilt with Chicago tomorrow.

This is the Jackets' last meeting with Nasvhille this season, which is kind of nice when you think about it. Odd that it's in late-January, but dem's da breaks.

And [drumroll] finally, tonight should mark the debut of Brett Lebda. Porty has him drawing in on the top pairing with Fedor Tyutin. Kill me now.

[update] Shawn Mitchell is reporting that Steve Mason is starting tonight in goal.

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Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings

January 21, 2012 - 7:00pm EST
Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, Michigan
Radio - WWCD FM 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Winging It In Motown

"We still want to finish this thing out by doing good things and continuing to grow and taking steps forward in the right direction." --Todd Richards

"Heeeeeere's Brett Lebda!" --Scott Howson

So, I'm guessing you can infer how I feel about demoting David Savard to make room for Brett Lebda. In a season that's already lost--and has been so for quite some time--explain to me how bringing in a washed up Lebda in lieu of getting Savard some NHL experience makes ANY sense. No, go ahead. I'll wait.

[zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz]

Oh, sorry. I drifted off.

At any rate, the Red Wings are in their usual beast mode, and haven't lost at The Joe in 15 tries. I'm hard pressed to come up with reasons the Jackets can break that streak, but spending four paragraphs talking about how much I hate Tomas Holmstrom and about how I think Gary Bettman is an asshat for letting Todd Bertuzzi back into the league at all won't really suffice as a preview.

The Jackets are coming off their first shutout of the season at the hands of the Preds the other night; small feather-for-cap is that Columbus somehow was the last team to be shutout on the season. Amazing.

That first win of the season over a depleted Wings team seems so, so long ago. The Jackets are a traveling MASH unit, and the Wings are in playoff form of late. In terms of your lineup changes, not much for Columbus other than Lebda-for-Savard and a return to the crease of The Sandman. Try to contain your excitement!

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Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets

January 19, 2012 - 7:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: On the Forecheck

Tonight's game is all about finishing strong: finishing the home stand (Columbus can go 3-1 with a win tonight), and finishing games strong against the Predators. The last two times out against Nashville have been nothing short of completely groin-shatteringly bad losses for Columbus: there was the blown 3-1 lead in the final 90 seconds at home (OT loss), and the 4-1 end-of-first lead that was blown in a 6-5 loss in Nashville.

It won't be easy; Nashville is playing very, very well right now. They've won eight of ten (and that includes a loss on Tuesday to the Rangers), and have jumped all the way up to 6th in the conference. Columbus will get a small break, as Ryan Suter is not in the lineup tonight.

More generally, though, the Jackets have shown this season that they can score on Pekke Rinne. They've managed three-plus goals in three of the four matchups this season. In two of the last three games, the Jackets have notched four goals (one EN, to be fair), so they've shown the ability to generate some offense under Todd Richards. They will need to do that again tonight.

The Dispatch guys are reporting that Steve Mason was first off the ice this morning, and that generally indicates the starter. In other words, hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen. At the end of the day, however, it will come down to one thing: finishing. If the Jackets can finish their chances, and if they can finish the third period if they find themselves fortunate enough to have a lead. Finish strong, men.

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