Game Preview #34 - Holiday Rest, New Year Rebound
The Jackets have had four days off to rest and reflect on the beating they took from Nashville on Monday night. It's time to get back on the winning track as the Bruins come to town.
Boston Bruins at Columbus Blue Jackets
December 27, 2014 - 7:00 pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WWCD 102.5 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Stanley Cup of Chowder
OK, Monday was not good. And, for the second time this season, the Jackets are hosting the Bruins after playing arguably their worst game of the season one game prior. Both teams played Nashville in their final games before the break (the Bruins a day after the Jackets), and suffice it to say Boston fared better, mainly by not giving up easy goals for the second half of the game.
The Jackets get some good news tonight, as winger Scott Hartnell is back in the lineup. For once, an injury that healed when it was supposed to! He draws in on the top line. Ahh, but the Hockey Gods cannot give us anything without taking something away. Sergei Bobrovsky has come down with a stomach bug, and is unavailable tonight. Good times.
I don't even know what to write about this game, to be honest. Part of that is that I have no idea what to expect. Did the Jackets take time to rest but also contemplate how bad they were in the final 40 minutes Monday? Are they mad? Hungry? Can their goaltending be sharp enough tonight? Can they not give up easy chances?
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(14-16-3, 31 Points; 6th division, 13th conference)
| Scott Hartnell | Ryan Johansen | Jeremy Morin |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Nick Foligno | Alexander Wennberg | Jack Skille |
| Corey Tropp | Michael Chaput | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Kevin Connauton | James Wisniewski |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Curtis McElhinney |
| Anton Forsberg |
Boston Bruins
(18-14-3, 39 Points; 5th Division, 9th Conference)
| Milan Lucic | David Krejci | Craig Cunningham |
| Brad Marchand | Patrice Bergeron | Reilly Smith |
| Chris Kelly | Carl Soderberg | Loui Eriksson |
| Daniel Paille | Gregory Campbell | Matt Fraser |
| Zdeno Chara | Dougie Hamilton |
| Matt Bartkowski | Dennis Seidenberg |
| Torey Krug | Kevan Miller |
| Tuukka Rask |
| Niklas Svedberg |
Season Series
11/21/14 - Boston 4 at Columbus 3 (SO)
12/27/14 - Boston at Columbus
01/17/15 - Columbus at Boston
Head to Head Stats
| Boston | Columbus | |
| 2.54 (21) | GPG | 2.30 (24) |
| 2.54 (12) | GAPG | 3.21 (26) |
| 17.1% (19) | PP% | 23.5% (6) |
| 79.8% (18) | PK% | 79.8% (17) |
| Brad Marchand, 10 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 16 |
| Patrice Bergeron, 20 | A leader | Ryan Johansen, 21 |
| Patrice Bergeron, 26 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno / Ryan Johansen, 30 |
| Milan Lucic, 62 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 49 |
| 7-8-1 | Road/Home | 7-9-2 |
| 4-4-2 | Last 10 | 8-1-1 |
| 12/23 vs. Nashville, W 5-3 | Last Game | 12/22 vs. Nashville, L 5-1 |