Game Preview #13 - Nut Up Or Shut Up
It's time to start winning games.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes
November 7, 2014 - 7:00 PM EST
PNC Arena - Raleigh, North Carolina
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Canes Country
First of all, if you read the title and haven't seen "Zombieland," please do yourself a favor and watch it.
Second of all, I called Carolina a "bad, bad team" on Tuesday, and (deservedly) got some flak for it. No more of that tonight. The Jackets did not show anything on Tuesday that would suggest they are better than Carolina right now, so they need to earn that back from me first. Carolina, you're the best.
In all seriousness, the Hurricanes dominated in pretty much every area (except the score, really, when you think about it) the other night. The Jackets played lethargic, they looked sloppy, and Carolina looked far, far faster. All of that needs to change if Columbus would like to end their six-game losing streak.
Ugh. Six games.
Good news? James Wisniewski is back tonight. Bad news? Jack Johnson is out with a suspension. While that may not be "bad" news in the world of fancy stats, you can't deny that he plays a lot of minutes. Whether or not he *should* be is a discussion for another time.
Cam Ward goes again for Carolina. At "press time" nothing's been released about who will start for Columbus. It probably shouldn't be Curtis McElhinney, but it won't surprise me if it is.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(4-8-0, 8 Points; 8th division, 15th conference)
| Scott Hartnell | Ryan Johansen | Cam Atkinson |
| Brian Gibbons | Nick Foligno | Jack Skille |
| Matt Calvert | Alexander Wennberg | Boone Jenner |
| Marko Dano | Michael Chaput | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Tim Erixon | James Wisniewski |
| Frederic St. Denis | David Savard |
| Curtis McElhinney |
| Anton Forsberg |
Carolina Hurricanes
(3-6-2, 8 Points; 7th Division, 14th Conference)
| Jiri Tlusty | Eric Staal | Alexander Semin |
| Nathan Gerbe | Riley Nash | Elias Lindholm |
| Jeff Skinner | Jay McClement | Patrick Dwyer |
| Chris Terry | Victor Rask | Zach Boychuk |
| Andrej Sekera | Justin Faulk |
| Tim Gleason | Jay Harrison |
| Ron Hainsey | Brett Bellemore |
| Cam Ward |
| Anton Khudobin |
Season Series
11/04/14 - Carolina 4 at Columbus 2
11/07/14 - Columbus at Carolina
03/10/15 - Columbus at Carolina
03/15/15 - Carolina at Columbus
Head to Head Stats
| Carolina | Columbus | |
| 2.27 (25) | GPG | 2.50 (19) |
| 3.18 (25) | GAPG | 3.42 (28) |
| 18.4% (18) | PP% | 20.4% (13) |
| 79.0% (19) | PK% | 78.6% (21) |
| Jiri Tlusty, 6 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 6 |
| Riley Nash / Andrej Sekera, 5 | A leader | Scott Hartnell / Ryan Johansen, 9 |
| Riley Nash / Jiri Tlusty, 8 | Pts leader | Ryan Johansen, 14 |
| Jay Harrison, 36 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 28 |
| 2-1-1 | Home/Road | 2-4-0 |
| 3-5-2 | Last 10 | 2-8-0 |
| 11/04 @ Columbus, W 4-2 | Last Game | 11/04 vs. Carolina, L 4-2 |