Saturday, February 12, 2022 – 12:30PM EST
Bell Centre- Montreal, Quebec
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Habs Eyes on the Prize
Columbus Blue Jackets (22-22-1, 45 points, 5th Metro, 10th East)
at
Montreal Canadiens (8-31-7, 23 points, 8th Atlantic, 16th East)
Jackets notes
The Jackets are heading into Montreal on a high note, coming off two straight comeback wins since returning from the break. The Blue Jackets look to extend their winning streak to three games for the first time since Thanksgiving. It would be nice to see the Jackets play this one from out in front, rather than having to play catch up in the late stages of the game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joonas Korpisalo get the start today to showcase him and hopefully boost his stats prior to the trade deadline. He’ll need to get those numbers up if Jarmo Kekalainen is really set on receiving a 2nd AND 3rd round pick for the struggling backup netminder.
Player to Watch
Trey Fix-Wolansky
After how often I mention him in the Monsters roundups, it was a no brainer for me to pick TFW here. He’s looked dangerous in both of his games with the Jackets, notching a goal and an assist in his first two games. He could easily have double the amount of points already. He (and Gaunce) have seemingly brought Jack Roslovic back to life on that makeshift fourth line. I’m expecting TFW to show up and show out today, and show the Habs what a real short king looks like in the NHL. Looking at you, Cole Caufield.
The Other Bench
As you’ve probably heard by now, the Canadiens recently fired their head coach Dominique Ducharme, replacing him with Hall of Fame player and former CBJ “Special Teams Consultant,” Martin St. Louis as interim coach. The Habs were unable to secure their new bench boss a win in his debut, falling to the Washington Capitals. Look for Montreal to play a loose and rejuvenated game under their new coach to get him that first win. This is not going to be a typical game against a basement dwelling team just playing out the stretch. The Jackets will have to be ready from puck drop to the final horn in this one.
Season Series
1/30/22 CBJ 6 @ MTL 3
2/12/22 CBJ @ MTL
4/13/22 MTL @ CBJ
Stats
| Montreal | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.56 (26) | GPG | 3.14 (13) |
| 4.00 (32) | GAPG | 3.67 (31) |
| 13.9% (31) | PP% | 16.8% (25) |
| 73.9% (29) | PK% | 80.0% (16) |
| 47.12% (23) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 47.68% (21) |
| 46.02% (29) | 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % | 46.63% (27) |
| 6.5 (31) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.17 (7) |
| .905 (29) | 5v5 Save % | .904 (30) |
| Nick Suzuki, Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, 9 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 19 |
| Nick Suzuki, 19 | A Leader | Jakub Voracek, 29 |
| Nick Suzuki, 28 | P Leader | Boone Jenner, 33 |
| Michael Pezzeta, 68 | PIM Leader | Andrew Peeke, 30 |
| 5-15-1 | Home / Road | 10-12-0 |
| 1-7-2 | Last 10 | 5-5-0 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Patrik Laine | Boone Jenner | Gus Nyquist |
| Jakub Voracek | Cole Sillinger | Oliver BJORKSTRAND |
| Max Domi | Sean Kuraly | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Brendan Gaunce | Jack Roslovic | Trey Fix-Wolansky |
| Zach Werenski | Andrew Peeke |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Adam Boqvist |
| Gavin Bayreuther | Dean Kukan |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Montreal Canadiens
| Arttuti Lehkonen | Nick Suzuki | Tyler Toffoli |
| Mike Hoffman | Paul Byron | Brendan Gallagher |
| Remi Pitlick | Jake Evans | Josh Anderson |
| Joel Armia | Ryan Poehling | Cole Caufield |
| Alexander Romanov | Ben Chiarot |
| Brett Kulak | Jeff Petry |
| Kale Clague | Chris Wideman |
| Cayden Primeau |
| Samuel Montembeault |