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 |