Thursday, November 15, 2018 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Litter Box Cats
Columbus Blue Jackets (10-6-2, 22 points, 1st Metro, 4th East)
vs.
Florida Panthers (7-5-3, 17 points, 7th Atlantic, 13th East)
Welcome to Thursday Night Hockey, as the first place Columbus Blue Jackets play the winner of 5 straight, the Florida Panthers.
Player to Watch
Zach Werenski
Z has seen his role on the team change slightly with a demotion to the third line. Against Washington he played for just 13:21, and on Monday against Dallas he was on the ice for 14:27. This from a player that was averaging over 24 minutes a game while Seth Jones was injured. His CF%, which was around 54 through his first two seasons, has plummeted to 47.0 this season. Maybe getting a better partner would help?
Jackets Notes
The Jackets have earned points in five straight games (3-0-2) and have earned points in 8 of the last ten games (5-2-3)…The power play scored 6 goals in the first 14 games, then 5 over the last 4. That is 4 straight games with a power play goal for a unit that earned much criticism…Yesterday the Jackets recalled defenseman Gabriel Carlsson from Cleveland. Would they call him up just to sit in the press box? I doubt it…The corresponding roster move is that Adam Clendening has cleared waivers and been assigned to the Monsters.
The Other Bench
The Panthers have won 5 straight games, including a 2-1 win over Philadelphia…These teams last met on October 11 in Sunrise, with the Blue Jackets winning 5-4 in a high scoring affair…Roberto Luongo was hurt for that contest, but since returning he is 4-0.
Season Series
10/11/2018 CBJ 5 @ FLA 4
11/15/2018 FLA @ CBJ
01/05/2019 CBJ @ FLA
Stats
| Florida | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.20 (12) | GPG | 3.22 (9) |
| 2.93 (12) | GAPG | 3.22 (21) |
| 21.5% (13) | PP% | 16.4% (24) |
| 74.5% (26) | PK% | 78.3% (22) |
| 51.56% (9) | EV Corsi % | 50.06% (13) |
| 100.8 (11) | EV PDO | 100.3 (15) |
| Evgenii Dadonov, 8 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois, 8 |
| Keith Yandle, 12 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 13 |
| Evgenii Dadonov, 17 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 18 |
| Vincent Trocheck, 24 | PIM Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 28 |
| 4-2-2 | Home / Road | 4-4-1 |
| 6-3-1 | Last 10 | 6-2-2 |
Projected Lineups
| Artemi Panarin | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Brandon Dubinsky | Alexander Wennberg | Oliver BJORKSTRAND |
| Markus Hannikainen | Riley Nash | Anthony Duclair |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Markus Nutivaara | David Savard |
| Zach Werenski | Scott Harrington |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Evgeny Dadonov | Aleksander Barkov | Mike Hoffman |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | Vincent Trocheck | Frank Vatrano |
| Denis Malgin | Jared McCann | Nick Bjugstad |
| Troy Brouwer | Juho Lammikko | Colton Sceviour |
| Michael Matheson | Aaron Ekblad |
| Keith Yandle | Alex Petrovic |
| Bogdan Kiselevich | Mackenzie Weegar |
| Roberto Luongo |
| James Reimer |