2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game 4 Preview: Do or Die

As the Blue Jackets enter this game on the brink of elimination, let me offer some words of encouragement from the poet William Ernest Henley (with some minor alterations::

Out of the night that covers me,      
Black as the Pitt from goal to goal,    
I thank whatever gods may be      
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance    
I have not winced nor cried aloud.    
Under the bludgeonings of chance      
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears      
Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
And yet the menace of the years      
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,      
How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:  
I am the captain of my soul.

All series long, the Blue Jackets have made their presence felt in the first period. Only in Game 3 did that result in a lead. The second period has been rough, so that will be something to overcome. Another factor is limiting mistakes, as the Penguins have proved adept at capitalizing on each one.

Matt Calvert returns to the lineup after serving a one game suspension for an unnecessary cheap shot. Zach Werenski will miss the remainder of the season – however long that is – with facial fractures. We finally get our wish of Markus Nutivaara and Kyle Quincey in the lineup, but not like this. NOT LIKE THIS.

I will be in attendance and I want to see one more win in person. Is that too much to ask? I hope to see some of you at the cannon during the second intermission.

Big lineup changes announced this morning:

#CBJ D Markus Nutivaara and Kyle Quincey will draw in tonight. Scott Harrington and Zach Werenski (facial fractures) out.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 18, 2017

#CBJ Scott Hartnell out tonight vs. #Pens. Lukas Sedlak draws in. Had been out with upper body.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 18, 2017

We’re adding youth and we’re adding fresh legs (important after a grueling OT game Sunday night). I’m a huge Nuti fan so I’m pleased to see him back in. Quincey provides valuable playoff experience. Hartnell has been invisible this series, so Sedlak could add some spark in the bottom half of the lineup.

There’s nothing to lose by making these changes, right?

Projected Lineups