Game Preview #47 - Second Verse, Same As The First
The Jackets get their second chance in 17 days for an improbable home win against the league-leading Caps.
Blue Jackets vs. Capitals
7:00 PM - Game Faceoff
Sergei Bobrovsky has twice now been activated and slated to make his first start back from IR against Washington. Looks like this time, though, it's actually going to happen. Kudos go to Joonas Korpisalo, who has shown a steady calm despite being thrust into the toughest situation of his young pro career. If he can continue to develop, his mental makeup is good enough. Just have to see if the skill can follow. At 21, here's to hoping.
The Jackets, going back to that crazy December game against Dallas, are actually 4-3-1 in their last eight games. Considering that they were well on their way toward stealing the LA game in which Bob got hurt, it would have been interesting to see how they'd have done with Bob throughout that 6-9-3 stretch (including the LA OTL) without him. Do they steal that LA win? Grab a couple more of the close ones along the way? 10-6-2 has them five points out of a Wild Card spot.
But, they're not that team. They're the team in 30th, still at this moment with the best chance to win the Auston Matthews derby.
HOWEVER, that same team showed up and somehow eeked out a shootout win against these same juggernaut Caps 17 days ago. Both Power Plays loomed large in that game, with the teams combining for four PPGs out of the eight total goals scored. The Caps Power Play is... well, it's a monster. The Jackets' Power Play is equal parts Jekyl and Hyde.
In short, Columbus will need all facets of their game to show up tonight. They'll need to capitalize (rim shot) on their Power Play chances again. They'll need their PK to step up. They'll need a lift from Bobrovsky. They'll need to find a way to shut down a team that is 26-5-3 since early November.
For the Jackets, after his ill-advised too many men penalty resulted from yapping at the Avs' bench, Scott Hartnell gets his second healthy scratch of the season. That will dull the Power Play a bit, but if it gets Hartnell refocused it can only help him going forward (*cough*tradevalue*cough*). We've all talked about this abstract notion of accountability. This is it in action.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(17-25-4, 38 Points; 8th division, 16th conference)
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Josh Anderson |
| Rene Bourque | William Karlsson | Kerby Rychel |
| Markus Hannikainen | Gregory Campbell | Jared Boll |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Jack Johnson | Cody Goloubef |
| Justin Falk | Dalton Prout |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
Washington Capitals
(34-8-3, 71 Points; 1st Division, 1st Conference)
| Alex Ovechkin | Nicklas Backstrom | T.J. Oshie |
| Andre Burakovsky | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Justin Williams |
| Jason Chimera | Marcus Johansson | Tom Wilson |
| Brooks Laich | Mike Richards | Michael Latta |
| Karl Alzner | Matt Niskanen |
| Dmitri Orlov | Nate Schmidt |
| Ryan Stanton | Taylor Chorney |
| Braden Holtby |
| Philipp Grubauer |