Game 53 Preview: Jackets in Beantown against the Bruins
Continuing on this mini Eastern road trip, the Jackets are in Boston tonight to face the Bruins. Columbus is coming off of a tough loss against the Flyers but will look to catch the B's while they are down and out. They are a banged up hockey team, and Columbus has no excuse but to take it to them early and set the tone. The streak of getting scored on within the first two minutes must stop tonight.
It looks like Mase is starting tonight, likely against Tuukka Rask, who is having an outstanding season. The lines are the same as last game, I'll be looking for Freddy Modin to work his way up through the lineup somehow, but with the hot play of Raffi Torres I'm not sure where he could fit in.
I love Eastern Conference games, this one should be a dandy!
Fearless Prediction: Kris Russell scores.
Game Time: 7:00pm ET
Opponent's Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Game Page: Blue Jackets vs Bruins coverage
TSN Preview: Blue Jackets vs Bruins preview
TV: FSN
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)
More after the jump...
From the Columbus Dispatch:
What happened to the days of beating up on the Eastern Conference? The Jackets are 4-5-2 against the East this season, coming off a 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. The Bruins, last season's top regular-season team in the East, have been treading water while dealing with key injuries but are starting to get healthy. The Bruins are 29th in the league in scoring, averaging 2.44 goals.
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
| R.J. Umberger | Antoine Vermette | Rick Nash |
| Raffi Torres | Derick Brassard | Jakub Voracek |
| Kristian Huselius | Samuel Pahlsson | Chris Clark |
| Fredrik Modin | Derek Dorsett | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Anton Stralman |
| Mathieu Roy | Kris Russell |
| Jan Hejda | Mike Commodore |
| Steve Mason |
| Mathieu Garon |
| EXTRA: Andrew Murray, Milan Jurcina |
| INJURED: Marc Methot, Rostislav Klesla |
| Mark Recchi | Patrice Bergeron | Marco Sturm |
| Blake Wheeler | David Krejci | Miroslav Satan |
| Trent Whitfield | Steve Begin | Michael Ryder |
| Milan Lucic | Vladimir Sobotka | Shawn Thornton |
| Zdeno Chara | Dennis Wideman |
| Matt Hunwick | Derek Morris |
| Mark Stuart | Johnny Boychuck |
| Tuukka Rask |
| Tim Thomas |