Game Preview #33 - Goalie Showdown

Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets

December 22, 2014 - 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: On The Forecheck

In some ways, you almost hate to see the break coming. Since the calendar flipped to December, the Jackets have only lost once, and they have earned points in all nine of their games. After tonight's game, the holiday break comes, and with it some needed time off. Unless, of course, you're a believer in the notion that you want to keep playing in a routine when your team is winning like this.

At any rate, Nashville comes calling tonight. In some ways, the last time these two teams played marked a bit of a turning point for Columbus: it was the last time they lost in regulation, but it was probably the best game they'd played in quite a long time... certainly of that 0-5-1 skid to finish November. "I thought we played them so hard [last time]," said Nick Foligno. "Unlucky bounce late in the game and they get a win. Otherwise it maybe goes into overtime and it's a different story. We know we can play with them. I know they're playing well right now and doing a lot of great things, so it's going to be a test for us."

Tonight should feature an all-world goaltending matchup between two of the best in the business who are both playing at or near their apex. Sergei Bobrovsky has been almost untouchable in December, posting a .940 save percentage during this nine-game points streak. That includes stopping 300 of 319 shots, or 35.4 shots per game. Holy balls.

Rinne has been stellar all season long. If I had a vote for the Vezina and it was voted on in December, he would get my vote going away. He has a .933 save percentage... for the entire season. He's 21-6-1 and has a minuscule 1.87 goals-against average. In other words, he's been almost as good as Bob has been of late, but he's been doing it for three freaking months straight.

The few players I talked to after morning skate noted Rinne's rebound control as an area to try to attack, but a goalie that size who is athletic presents many challenges. "I think what makes [Rinne] so difficult to play against is, he's not only big but he's athletic," said Foligno. "He's a guy that can get around the net really well, and he's someone who also plays the puck really well, too. He's got all the facets of being a great goaltender."

"[We have to get] traffic on this guy, he spits out a lot of rebounds," said Matt Calvert. "He's a great goalie, though, so we're going to have to get the second, third, fourth efforts on him."

So, if you remember that 0-0 shootout game in Detroit last week, well, don't be surprised if something similar happens tonight.

As usual, no lineup changes for the Jackets.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(14-15-3, 31 Points; 6th division, 13th conference)

Nick Foligno	Ryan Johansen	Jeremy Morin
Matt Calvert	Brandon Dubinsky	Cam Atkinson
Corey Tropp	Alexander Wennberg	Jack Skille
Adam Cracknell	Michael Chaput	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Dalton Prout
Jack Johnson	David Savard
Kevin Connauton	James Wisniewski

Sergei Bobrovsky

Curtis McElhinney

Nashville Predators
(21-8-2, 44 Points; 3rd Division, 4th Conference)

Filip Forsberg	Mike Ribeiro	Craig Smith
Colin Wilson	Mike Fisher	Matt Cullen
Derek Roy	Calle Jarnkrok	Taylor Beck
Eric Nystrom	Olli Jokinen	Gabriel Bourque

Roman Josi	Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm	Ryan Ellis
Victor Bartley	Seth Jones

Pekka Rinne

Carter Hutton

Season Series

11/29/14 - Columbus 1 at Nashville 2
12/22/14 - Nashville at Columbus

Head to Head Stats

Nashville		Columbus
2.68 (18)	GPG	2.34 (24)
2.03 (2)	GAPG	3.16 (26)
12.0% (29)	PP%	23.1% (5)
79.5% (18)	PK%	79.1% (22)
Filip Forsberg, 13	G leader	Nick Foligno, 16
Filip Forsberg / Mike Ribeiro, 18	A leader	Ryan Johansen, 20
Filip Forsberg, 31	Pts leader	Nick Foligno, 30
Ryan Ellis, 27	PIM leader	Jared Boll, 49
9-6-1	Road/Home	7-8-2
7-3-0	Last 10	8-1-1
12/20 @ Minnesota, W 6-5 (OT)	Last Game	12/20 vs. Chicago, W 3-2 (SO)