Columbus Blue Jackets at Edmonton Oilers
November 19, 2013 – 9:30pm EST
Rexall Place – Edmonton, Alberta
Radio – WBNS 97.1 – TV – Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: The Copper and Blue
SBN’s Oilers vs Blue Jackets Coverage
First, some good news, though it has no direct bearing on tonight’s game: Matt Calvert is close. He’s with the team, he won’t play tonight, but he will play this week. Possibly in Calgary, but most likely on Friday in Vancouver. ALSO, one Mr. Nathan Horton is practicing with the team on the trip. THIS IS A THING THAT HAS POSITIVE QUALITIES.
The Jackets have points in five straight (2-0-3), and are just three points out of third place in the Shitro Division. They will ice the same lineup with which they dispatched the Senators on Sunday, and they will ice it against a pretty, frankly, crappy Oiler team. Despite coming off a win against Calgary, the Oilers have just five wins on the season thus far: they’re actually off to a WORSE start than the Jackets got off to last year.
With all of the offensive talent on the Oilers’ roster, it’s surprising how much they’re struggling to score consistently. That was never the problem for this team in the past; the defense was always the Achilles heel. And, it is again: the Oilers are currently last in the entire NHL in goals-against with a 3.73 gaa. Let that number waft over you for a second.
Is it wafting?
[sniffffffffffffff]
Ahh, yes. This is what the Jackets need to cure what ails ’em. Coming off a four-goal performance against Ottawa, it might seem like the offense has turned a corner. But, three of those goals were on Power Plays, including a 5-on-3. So, we’re still waiting to see that even strength offense. The Jackets only have 30 even strength goals in 20 games, which just isn’t going to cut it. Thankfully, Edmonton has allowed 60 (!!!!) even strength goals (including 4-on-4) in 22 games. Oof, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
So, if the Jackets can play like they did on Sunday and generate chances, they should be able to get some even strength goals.
Edmonton is bad, people. They make eyes bleed. This is a game the Jackets simply HAVE to win if we’re going to take them seriously.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(7-10-3, 17 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)
| Nick Foligno | Ryan Johansen | R.J. Umberger |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Derek MacKenzie | Mark Letestu | Blake Comeau |
| Michael Chaput | Artem Anisimov | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Jack Johnson |
| Ryan Murray | James Wisniewski |
| Nikita Nikitin | David Savard |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Edmonton Oilers
(5-15-2, 12 Points; 7th Division, 14th Conference)
| Taylor Hall | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Jordan Eberle |
| Nail Yakupov | Sam Gagner | Ales Hemsky |
| Ryan Smyth | Boyd Gordon | David Perron |
| Luke Gazdic | Mark Arcobello | Jesse Joensuu |
| Andrew Ference | Jeff Petry |
| Nick Schultz | Justin Schultz |
| Anton Belov | Philip Larsen |
| Devan Dubnyk |
| Ilya Bryzgalov |
Season Series
11/19/13 – Columbus at Edmonton
11/29/13 – Edmonton at Columbus
Head to Head Stats
Edmonton Columbus 2.36 (23) GPG 2.55 (18) 3.73 (30) GAPG 2.80 (21) 17.1% (19) PP% 19.7% (13) 81.7% (19) PK% 80.3% (21) five tied, 5 G leader Ryan Johansen, 6 Jordan Eberle, 11 A leader James Wisniewski, 14 Jordan Eberle, 16 Pts leader James Wisniewski, 16 Luke Gazdic, 50 PIM leader Brandon Dubinsky, 40 1-7-0 Home/Road 3-4-2 11/16 @ Calgary, W 4-2 Last Game 11/17 @ Ottawa, W 4-1 2-7-1 Last 10 2-5-3