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Game #30 Preview/GameThread: Columbus Blue Jackets ring in 2022 by hosting Carolina Hurricanes in franchise’s first ever New Year’s Day appearance

Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets
Saturday, January 1, 2022 – 1:00 PM EDT
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Bally’s Sports Ohio – Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Canes Country

Carolina Hurricanes, 22-7-1, 45 points, 1st Metro, 2nd East
@
Columbus Blue Jackets 15-13-1, 31 points, 6th Metro, 10th East

The Columbus Blue Jackets will play their first game in franchise history on New Year’s Day today as they play host to the Carolina Hurricanes in the team’s first Metro Division game since December 4.

The Blue Jackets are looking to bounce back after a tough month of December that saw the team win just three games, including Thursday’s win over Nashville. The Blue Jackets have been struggling for the better part of a month, even before the shutdown for COVID – the team has just four total victories since Thanksgiving was celebrated in the United States.

The Blue Jackets continue to need to figure out a way to get Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov more ice time – in Thursday’s game, Sillinger played 11 minutes, Chinakhov played 9:55 (7:55 at 5v5). That is not good enough, and unacceptable from the coaching staff. The kids need time. Take some of the 17 minutes Sean Kuraly played and give them to Sillinger. I’m begging you, Coach Larsen.

Player to Watch

Alexandre Texier

The Frenchman is having his best season as a Blue Jacket thus far – with ten goals this season, he has set a new career high with his first double-digit goals season of his career. Texier has also set a career high in points already this season, with 17. Texier is on a 48 point pace this season, which would go a long way to cementing his status as a solid contributor in the long term for the Blue Jackets.

Jackets Notes

The Blue Jackets are not expected to get Oliver Bjorkstrand or Gavin Bayreuther back for this matchup given when each player entered the protocols, but could welcome Joonas Korpisalo and Eric Robinson back relatively soon … According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, the Blue Jackets are one of the least-physical teams in the NHL, averaging just 15.7 hits per game, which ranks 31st in the league (ahead of Buffalo) … Alexandre Texier is the fourth French-born NHL player to score 10 goals in a season … Gregory Hofmann has returned to Switzerland for a personal matter

The Other Bench

The Hurricanes played their first game since the shutdowns on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens and were missing three players – Frederik Andersen, Brendan Smith, and Jesper Fast … According to Canes Country, the team went 57-19-9 in calendar year 2021, the most wins and points in one year in franchise history … Sebastian Aho is tied for 11th in the league in goals scored this year with 15 and tied for 13th in points with 32 … The Hurricanes are 14-2-1 when scoring first this season

Season Series

10/23/2021 CAR 5 @ CBJ 1
01/01/2022 CAR @ CBJ
01/13/2022 CBJ @ CAR
02/25/2022 CBJ @ CAR

Stats

Carolina   Columbus
3.28 (8) GPG 3.18 (11)
2.14 (1) GAPG 3.36 (26)
22.5% (10) PP% 18.6% (17)
88.7% (2) PK% 78.7% (22)
55.63% (2) 5v5 Shot Attempt % 48.5% (21)
54.74% (2) 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % 47.3% (24)
8.97% (6) 5v5 Shooting % 8.88 (7)
.931 (7) 5v5 Save % .913 (25)
Sebastian Aho, 15 G Leader Boone Jenner, 12
Sebastian Aho, 19 A Leader Jakub Voracek, 22
Sebastian Aho, 34 P Leader Oliver Bjorkstrand, 23
Vincent Trocheck, 37 PIM Leader Andrew Peeke and Cole Sillinger, 19
9-3-0 Home / Road 10-3-1
6-4-0 Last 10 2-7-1

Projected Lineups

Gregory Hofmann Boone Jenner Jakub Voracek
Emil Bemstrom Jack Roslovic Max Domi
Gus Nyquist Sean Kuraly Alexandre Texier
Justin Danforth Cole Sillinger Yegor Chinakhov
Zach Werenski Jake Bean
Vladislav Gavrikov Adam Boqvist
Gabriel Carlsson Andrew Peeke
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Nino Niederreiter Sebastian Aho Tuevo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov Vincent Trocheck Martin Necas
Jesperi Kotkaniemi Jordan Staal Seth Jarvis
Steven Lorentz Derek Stepan Jesper Fast
Jaccob Slavin Tony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei Brett Pesce
Ian Cole Ethan Bear
Antti Raanta
Alex Lyon