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Game Preview #13: Picking Up the Pieces

St. Louis Blues @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Saturday, November 12, 2016 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus OH
TV: Fox Sports Ohio – Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: St. Louis Game Time

Thursday was terrible. Very terrible.

Columbus, with a winning record, has the second worst Corsi-for percentage in the league. That does not bode well for keeping that momentum going. Columbus needs to work on retaining possession, generating chances, and taking pressure off of their beleaguered defense.

Let’s get started doing that tonight. St. Louis, a formidable opponent who sits second in the Central Division, possesses the puck well but struggles putting it into the net. In their only other matchup (last weekend, as you’ll recall), Curtis McElhinney played well en route to a 2-1 overtime loss. I expect to see a rested Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes tonight. Here’s hoping he can get back to his winning ways.

Sonny Milano and Markus Hannikainen have been sent down, meaning Brandon Dubinsky will be back in the lineup tonight.

Oh, and Alexander Wennberg leads the NHL in assists this season with thirteen, so that’s cool.

Go Jackets. We’re a strong home team, St. Louis has played poorly on the road, and we’re at NWA tonight. Let’s get a win.

Standings Update

Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-4-2, 14 points, 5th Metro, 10th East
vs.
St. Louis Blues, 7-5-3, 17 points, 2nd Central, 3rd West

Season Series

11/5/16 – CBJ 1 @ STL 2
11/12/16

Stats Matchup

St. Louis   Columbus
2.20 (27) GPG 3.08 (7)
2.53 (14) GAPG 2.33 (7)
15.1% (21) PP% 32.4% (1)
91.9% (1) PK% 91.9% (2)
54.2% (3) EV CF% 46.4% (29)
97.7 (24) EV PDO 101.8 (7)
Vladimir Tarasenko, 5 G Leader Nick Foligno /Josh Anderson, 5
Vladimir Tarasenko, 8 A Leader Alexander Wennberg, 13
Vladimir Tarasenko, 13 P Leader Alexander Wennberg, 14
Alexander Steen, 23 PIM Leader Josh Anderson, 17
2-4-1 Road / Home 4-2-0
4-4-2 Last 10 6-2-2

Probable Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets

Brandon Saad Alexander Wennberg Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner Brandon Dubinsky Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell William Karlsson Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert Lukas Sedlak Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski David Savard
Ryan Murray Jack Johnson
Markus Nutivaara Dalton Prout
Sergei Bobrovsky
Curtis McElhinney

St. Louis Blues

Jaden Schwartz Jori Lehtera
Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexander Steen Patrik Berglund David Perron
Dmitrij Jaskin Paul Stastny Nail Yakupov
Scottie Upshall Kyle Brodziak Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson Kevin Shattenkirk
Petteri Lindbohm Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton