The Columbus Blue Jackets, owners of the longest losing streak in the NHL, take the ice tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes who are, distantly, still in the playoff race.
As the Blue Jackets limp toward the finish (they’re currently 28th in the NHL- how long ago last summer feels), the kids for Columbus will continue to get looks and hopefully prove themselves to the coaching staff and the front office ahead of next season’s training camp, where who knows what could happen.
As to the specific game tonight? Who knows what to expect. Columbus has looked … decent enough this week, despite losing both games. Honestly, I would expect a similar effort tonight- hard skating and, with some puck luck, maybe a win. Carolina isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire offensively, so tonight’s affair might be a low scoring one (so, naturally, it will end 6-5).
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Columbus Blue Jackets
(30-38-8, 68 points, 8th division, 15th conference)
| Brandon Dubinsky | Boone Jenner | Cam Atkinson |
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Sonny Milano |
| Scott Hartnell | Nick Foligno | BJORKSTRAND |
| Matt Calvert | William Karlsson | Gregory Campbell |
| Ryan Murray | Seth Jones |
| Cody Goloubef | David Savard |
| Dean Kukan | Dalton Prout |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
Carolina Hurricanes
(34-28-16, 84 points, 6th division, 9th conference)
| Joakim Nordstrom | Jordan Staal | Elias Lindholm |
| Jeff Skinner | Victor Rask | Chris Terry |
| Nathan Gerbe | Jay McClement | Brad Malone |
| Brendan Woods | Brody Sutter | Patrick Brown |
| Jaccob Slavin | Justin Faulk |
| Noah Hanifin | Brett Pesce |
| Ron Hainsey | Ryan Murphy |
| Eddie Lack |
| Cam Ward |