Game #20: Jackets look to make Nationwide unin-Hab-itable

Tuesday, November 19, 2019 - 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Eyes on the Prize

Montreal Canadiens (11-5-4, 26 points, 2nd Atlantic, 4th East)

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Columbus Blue Jackets (7-8-4, 18 points, 8th Metro, 14th East)

We know that Torts loves to shuffle the lines to give the team a jolt, but he has reached new levels this week. There were radical new lines in the third period against St. Louis on Friday and...it actually worked? So those new look lines will remain tonight. Well, at least for the start of the first period. Who knows where it will go from there.

We’ve talked about his line blender being a case of “throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.” Yet I never expected him to admit as much! Turns out he got some subliminal inspiration from a classic sitcom:

Let’s hope it’s a successful strategy, but even if it works it doesn’t speak in favor of Torts’ initial instincts, does it?

Player to Watch

Carey Price

Price is...in? The 10.5 Million Dollar Man is riding a hot streak, having won four of his last five decisions and has not lost in regulation since November 2. He saved 33 of 35 shots against Columbus last Tuesday and then 26 of 28 in a win over the Capitals on Friday. That’s bad news for a Jackets team that is still struggling to score goals on a consistent basis.

Jackets Notes

This is the final game of Nick Foligno’s three game suspension ... I would like to see the goalies alternate starts, which would mean starting Elvis Merzlikins. However, Torts has said that Joonas Korpisalo remains the #1 goalie, which suggests that he’ll get the nod tonight. Each gave up just two goals in their respective starts last week, so I don’t think it matters in the short term which goalie plays tonight ... Ryan Murray did practice yesterday after missing Friday’s game to nurse a sore knee.

The Other Bench

In their last game, the Habs lost in overtime to New Jersey. That game featured some overactive officiating ... Jonathan Drouin - who scored the winning shootout goal last week - was injured on Friday against Washington and will miss six to eight weeks after having wrist surgery. Paul Byron was also injured in that game and will miss four to six weeks recovering from knee surgery.

Season Series

11/12/2019 CBJ 2 @ MTL 3 (SO)
11/19/2019 MTL @ CBJ
02/02/2020 CBJ @ MTL

Stats

Projected Lineups