Saturday, October 27, 2018 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Die By The Blade
Columbus Blue Jackets (5-4-0, 10 points, t-3rd Metro, t-8th East)
vs.
Buffalo Sabres (6-4-0, 12 points, 5th Atlantic, 6th East)
It’s Saturday Night Hockey at Nationwide Arena! The Blue Jackets look to build on Thursday’s win as they host the better-than-expected Buffalo Sabres. Anyone here going to be there tonight?
Player to Watch
Rasmus Dahlin
The Swedish defenseman was the first pick of this summer’s NHL draft. So far he has 1 goal and 3 assists through 10 games while averaging over 18 minutes a night. He’s not getting thrown right into a first pair role like Zach Werenski was, but I’m still eager to see how he looks against NHL competition.
Jackets Notes
There was no practice yesterday, so no new news as of the time of this writing…I’m assuming that Hott Scarrington stays in the lineup after his 2 assist effort, that Sonny Milano returns, and that Sergei Bobrovsky starts in goal…That being said, how many of you would prefer that Joonas Korpisalo start again? Some were expressing that sentiment immediately after Thursday’s game.
The Other Bench
Raise your hand if you thought Buffalo would get off to a good start this season…Put your hand down, you liar…The Sabres surprised me by trading for Jeff Skinner this summer, but so far it’s paid off. He’s leading the team in goals and points…The Sabres have won 3 in a row, but are still struggling with consistency.
Season Series
10/27/2018 BUF @ CBJ
01/29/2019 BUF @ CBJ
03/31/2019 CBJ @ BUF
Stats
| Buffalo | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.60 (25) | GPG | 3.44 (9) |
| 2.80 (13) | GAPG | 3.78 (28) |
| 21.1% (16) | PP% | 16.7% (21) |
| 73.3% (23) | PK% | 71.4% (27) |
| 49.75% (16) | EV Corsi % | 51.57% (11) |
| 99.3 (17) | EV PDO | 98.4 (22) |
| Jeff Skinner, 5 | G Leader | Josh Anderson, 5 |
| Jack Eichel, 6 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 9 |
| Jeff Skinner, 10 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 12 |
| Zach Bogosian, 17 | PIM Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 16 |
| 3-2-0 | Home / Road | 2-3-0 |
| 6-4-0 | Last 10 | 5-4-0 |
Projected Lineups
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Anthony Duclair | Alexander Wennberg | Oliver BJORKSTRAND |
| Lukas Sedlak | Riley Nash | Sonny Milano |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| Hott Scarrington | David Savard |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Jeff Skinner | Jack Eichel | Jason Pominville |
| Conor Sheary | Vladimir Sobotka | Sam Reinhart |
| Evan Rodrigues | Casey Mittelstadt | Kyle Okposo |
| Patrick Berglund | Johan Larsson | Zemgus Girgensons |
| Jack McCabe | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Marco Scandella | Zach Bogosian |
| Rasmus Dahlin | Casey Nelson |
| Carter Hutton |
| Linus Ullmark |