Preview/Gamethread #69: Blue Jackets visit Beantown

Saturday, April 2, 2022 - 7:00 EDT
TD Garden - Boston, Massachusetts
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder

Columbus Blue Jackets (32-31-5, 69 points, 6th Metro, 10th East)

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Boston Bruins (42-20-5, 89 points, 4th Atlantic, 7th East)

The Blue Jackets are in the midst of a season-long five game losing streak. Can they break it tonight against a hot Bruins team?

Player to Watch

Nick Foligno

The longtime Blue Jackets captain will be celebrated before tonight’s game for playing 1000 NHL games, a mark he hit last month. I appreciate that the Bruins chose to wait for this game to commemorate the occasion, so his former teammates can be there.

The season has not been what the Bruins hoped for when they signed him to a two-year deal. He has missed 18 games with injury, including the game on Thursday. He has scored just 11 points in 49 games (he scored 20 points in 49 games last season) but has positive possession numbers despite a defensive, fourth line deployment.

Jackets Notes

The Jackets are still expected to be without coaches Brad Larsen and Steve McCarthy (COVID) and Zach Werenski (upper body injury).

The Other Bench

Boston lit up the scoreboard in their last game, beating Ottawa 8-1 ... The Bruins were 10-3-1 in the month of March, and are just two points behind Toronto for third place in the Atlantic division, and three behind Tampa. This final month will be a tight race to avoid being the team that has to play Carolina or Florida in the first round. Of course, I wouldn’t be thrilled about having to play Tampa, Toronto, or Boston, either.

Season Series

03/04/2022 BOS 4 @ CBJ 5 (SO)
04/02/2022 CBJ @ BOS
04/04/2022 BOS @ CBJ

Stats

Projected Lineups