A matinee game! The Jackets head into the Staples Center to take on the suddenly-surging Kings at 4:00 Columbus time today. They’ll do so with a juggled lineup, without Mark Letestu (broken hand) and with newly called up Ryan Russell. Also, Ryan Johansen finds himself again back in fourth-line-purgotory, for whatever reason. Gadzooks.
The Kings aren’t scoring much more than the Jackets right now, but they’re doing it with defense and a very good penalty kill. Columbus will have its work cut out for it today to try to outscore this stubborn defensive unit.
The Jackets’ once-and-former top line is back, with Vinny Prospal returning to the left wing of Jeff Carter and Rick Nash. We’ll see if the spark is back, too.
If you can turn off the NFL game long enough, do enjoy this one! It’s the rare West Coast game on at a time when we can all watch it without the aid of crystal meth to stay awake. And, since the NHLPA just blocked realignment, we need all of these that we can get since the travel schedule ain’t changing anytime soon.