Game 45 Preview: A Tale of Two Struggling Teams
Two teams heading in the same direction- down. Tonight's game may not just be a battle for the Conference basement, but could also foreshadow a battle for the chance to draft Taylor Hall first overall in June. Both the Oilers and Jackets are in the midst of terrible losing streaks- the good news is one team will win tonight. That's a 50/50 chance for the Jackets to end their woeful road losing streak.
More lineup changes- after saying that Brass will remain in the top six for the forseeable future, Hitch has moved him down to the checking line. Former Oiler (who isn't a former Oiler on this squad?) Raffi moves to the second line. Garon gets the nod in goal.
You know what would be good for the CBJ? A blowout victory. A full 60 minute effort where they put up 5 or 6 goals. It's extremely unlikely to happen, but hey a guy can dream. Coming soon- my early look at potential first round draft picks. The Jackets will get a good player in June, but where have we heard that before?
Fearless Prediction :Victory?
Game Time: 9:00pm ET
Opponent's Blog: The Copper & Blue
Game Page: Blue Jackets vs Oilers Coverage
TSN Preview: Blue Jackets vs Oilers Preview
TV: FSN
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)
More after the jump...
Jackets Links:
Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule
Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats
Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Kristian Huselius | R.J. Umberger | Rick Nash |
| Raffi Torres | Antoine Vermette | Jakub Voracek |
| Fredrik Modin | Derick Brassard | Chris Clark |
| Alexandre Picard | Samuel Pahlsson | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Anton Stralman |
| Milan Jurcina | Kris Russell |
| Jan Hejda | Mathieu Roy |
| Mathieu Garon |
| Steve Mason |
| EXTRA: Andrew Murray, Mike Commodore |
| INJURED: Marc Methot, Rostislav Klesla, Derek Dorsett |
| Dustin Penner | Shawn Horcoff | Robert Nilsson |
| Patrick O'Sullivan | Ryan Potulny | Gilbert Brule |
| Ryan Stone | Sam Gagner | Fernando Pasani |
| Ethan Moreau | Andrew Cogliano | Zack Stortini |
| Sheldon Souray | Tom Gilbert |
| Steve Staios | Ladislav Smid |
| Denis Grebeshkov | Jason Strudwick |
| Devan Dubnyk |
| Jeff Deslauriers |