Game Preview #66 - Last Place Metro Clash
The Jackets and Canes go at it with some draft pick status on the line...
Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes
March 7, 2015 - 7:00 pm EST
PNC Arena - Raleigh, North Carolina
Radio - WBNS 97.1 FM - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Canes Country
Stop me if you've heard this one: the Blue Jackets have lost another player to injury. This time it may be Scott Hartnell, who is not on the ice for morning skate. Luke Adam has been brought up on emergency recall, and drew in for Hartsy for the morning skate. We shall see. It does look like Alexander Wennberg, Kevin Connauton, and Jared Boll should all be good to go tonight, as is Fedor Tyutin who has been battling illness.
The Canes currently sit just one point behind Columbus with a game in hand, so the draft status is very much in play over these next two games between the two teams over the next six days. The Canes have been playing better of late, including a 7-4 thumping of Edmonton on Sunday. The plot thickens!
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(27-34-4, 58 Points; 7th division, 13th conference)
| Nick Foligno | Ryan Johansen | Cam Atkinson |
| Brandon Dubinsky | Artem Anisimov | Rene Bourque |
| Luke Adam | Alexander Wennberg | Marko Dano |
| Corey Tropp | Mark Letestu | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Kevin Connauton | Cody Goloubef |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Carolina Hurricanes
(25-32-7, 57 Points; 8th Division, 15th Conference)
| Eric Staal | Victor Rask | Elias Lindholm |
| Nathan Gerbe | Jordan Staal | Andrej Nestrasil |
| Jeff Skinner | Riley Nash | Alexander Semin |
| Brad Malone | Jay McClement | Patrick Dwyer |
| Ron Hainsey | Justin Faulk |
| Rasmus Rissanen | Ryan Murphy |
| Brett Bellemore | Michal Jordan |
| Cam Ward |
| Anton Khudobin |
Season Series
CAR - 2-0-0
CBJ - 0-1-111/04/14 - Carolina 4 at Columbus 2
11/07/14 - Columbus 2 at Carolina 3 (OT)
03/10/15 - Columbus at Carolina
03/15/15 - Carolina at Columbus
Head to Head Stats
| Carolina | Columbus | |
| 2.31 (26) | GPG | 2.49 (24) |
| 2.64 (17) | GAPG | 3.15 (26) |
| 19.5% (10) | PP% | 20.3% (7) |
| 87.3% (1) | PK% | 79.8% (24) |
| Jeff Skinner / Eric Staal, 18 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 24 |
| Justin Faulk, 29 | A leader | Nick Foligno / Ryan Johansen, 34 |
| Eric Staal, 42 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno, 58 |
| Brad Malone, 56 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 97 |
| 15-12-3 | Home/Road | 15-15-2 |
| 6-4-0 | Last 10 | 2-7-1 |
| 3/8 vs. Edmonton, W 7-4 | Last Game | 3/7 vs. Colorado, L 4-0 |