Game #75 Preview: Blue Jackets host playoff pushing Panthers
There will be no coasting from Columbus' opponent tonight.
Saturday, April 1, 2023 - 7:00 P.M. EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Florida Panthers (38-31-7, 83 points, 4th Atlantic, 9th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (23-43-8, 54 points, 8th Metro, 16th East)
The Blue Jackets played a tight game in Boston and managed to get a point out of it before losing in overtime, but the Bruins didn't play their best game in that one. Tonight, the Panthers are in town and are only one point behind the Penguins for the last wild card spot. They need every point they can get and will be on a mission tonight.
Player to Watch
Liam Foudy
After going only 0-3-3 in his first 35 games this season, it appears that maybe he has started to connect the dots at the NHL level. He is 4-3-7 in his last 11 games and has seen an increase in ice time as a result. He has always been able to separate himself as a skater, but he hasn't been able to put together the other parts of his game. His gorgeous pass to Roslovic resulted in the team's only goal on Thursday night. It would be great to see more of that coming from him.
Rosie gets us on the board first 🌹 pic.twitter.com/2qGol3BdoS
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) March 30, 2023
Jackets Notes
The Jackets are very banged up right now and became even more so after Roslovic left the game in Boston after smashing his head into the boards. Hopefully he's ok, but it wouldn't be a surprise if he was out of the lineup tonight. Brian Hedger also tweeted out that Lane Pederson could be out after taking a nasty punch to the jaw. Josh Dunne has been recalled from Cleveland.
Season Series
11/20/22 - FLA 3 @ CBJ 5
12/13/22 - CBJ 0 @ FLA 4
4/1/23 - FLA @ CBJ
Stats
| Florida | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.46 (5) | GPG | 2.68 (30) |
| 3.41 (23) | GAPG | 3.95 (31) |
| 22.4% (11) | PP% | 18.9% (25) |
| 74.2% (27) | PK% | 75.7% (22) |
| 54.5% (3) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 45.4% (29) |
| 53.6% (5) | 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % | 45.1% (29) |
| 8.4 (18) | 5v5 Shooting % | 7.8 (27) |
| .916 (15) | 5v5 Save % | .903 (28) |
| Matthew Tkachuk, 38 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 25 |
| Matthew Tkachuk, 63 | A Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 50 |
| Matthew Tkachuk, 101 | P Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 69 |
| Brandon Montour, 101 | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier, 81 |
| 17-19-3 | Home / Road | 14-20-2 |
| 5-4-1 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Boone Jenner | Kirill Marchenko |
| Liam Foudy | Jack Roslovic | Kent Johnson |
| Eric Robinson | Sean Kuraly | Josh Dunne |
| Trey Fix-Wolansky | Hunter McKown | Emil Bemstrom |
| Jake Christiansen | Adam Boqvist |
| Tim Berni | Andrew Peeke |
| Gavin Bayreuther | Nick Blankenburg |
| Michael Hutchinson |
| Jon Gillies |
Florida Panthers
| Matthew Tkachuk | Anton Lundell | Eetu Luostarinen |
| Anthony Duclair | Aleksander Barkov | Carter Verhaeghe |
| Ryan Lomberg | Eric Staal | Sam Reinhart |
| Nick Cousins | Colin White | Givani Smith |
| Aaron Ekblad | Gustav Forsling |
| Brandon Montour | Marc Staal |
| Radko Gudas | Josh Mahura |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Alex Lyon |