Game #9 Preview: It’s Autumn, will the Jackets help the Leafs fall?

Monday, October 21, 2019 - 7:00 EST
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Canada
TV: Fox Sports Ohio, ESPN+; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Pension Plan Puppets

Columbus Blue Jackets (3-3-2, 8 pts, 5^th Metro, 11^th East)

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Toronto Maple Leafs (5-3-1, 11 pts, 3^rd Atlantic, 6^th East)

Columbus heads north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2^nd time this season. The Leafs are off to a good start by winning more often than they’ve lost and Auston Matthews continues to sport a pornstache. Toronto notched a win over the Boston Bruins this past weekend – a win that appears to have been a big deal. Obviously, I’m not a Toronto fan – but having lived through the dark times of CBJ vs Detroit, I get it. Well, sans all the Game 7 issues. The Leafs are also heading into this game without John Tavares, who suffered a broken finger against the Washington Capitals. Perhaps killing a hydra with 3 heads is easier than killing one with 4. We’ll roll with it.

Columbus had a bit of a tough weekend as the team fell in overtime to the Chicago Blackhawks (Recap). To prove that anything you can do once, you can also do twice…the Jackets fell to the New York Islanders in pretty similar fashion. On the bright side, team defense continues to be solid. The forwards remain structured and the defensemen are getting the work done (even Seth Jones, you haters!). The team has allowed only two (2) regulation goals per game for 5 games in a row. The offense on the other hand… needs a little veteran scoring from the old hands.

Player to Watch

Alexandre Texier

Martel has made his mark with solid play offensively – he’s always buzzing around the puck, is good at maintaining control, and doesn’t seem to have a lot of issues with a bit of the physical play. However, he’s also drawing positive reviews for his defensive play. This is a hallmark of the team this season, but it is impressive that a rookie with minimal time on North American ice has such great awareness of his, and his teammates’, defensive responsibilities. Against one of the top offensive teams in the NHL, his defensive prowess may be more important than his offensive ability.

Jackets Notes

Boone Jenner earned that 200^th point for his career…Rostislav Klesla’s CBJ record for career goals by defensemen (41) has three pursuers…Savard, Werenski, and Jones are all within 1 goal of tying…Father’s Weekend was a success again – it’s fun trying to figure out who begat whom…Markus Hannikainen returned to the Cleveland Monsters…Oliver Bjorkstrand is still sitting on 99 points for his career…

The Other Bench

Did you hear Toronto beat Boston?…Tavares is expected to be out at least another week…Nic Petan may be on the trading block…over the last three games, 9 players have scored the team’s 11 goals…

Season Series

10/4/2019 TOR @ CBJ – 4-1 Loss

10/20/2019 CBJ @ TOR – Only the passage of time will allow us to know the result

3/21/2020 CBJ @ TOR

Stats

Projected Lineups