Game Preview #8(x): Blue Jackets vs. Hurricanes
The Blue Jackets close out their exhibition schedule tonight at home against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets
September 26, 2013 - 7:00pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 1460 AM - TV - None
Opponents Blog: Canes Country
SBNation Game Page
Tickets
After a lack-luster effort last night, the Jackets return home to close out the exhibition season. The Hurricanes are off to a rocky start in the preseason, but did win their last time out against Montreal. Columbus will ice a strong lineup at home, and the Hurricanes will be without Alexander Semin, which based on the last game, should help a lot.
We won't get to see rookie Elias Lindholm, either, who's nursing an injury. The Canes didn't play as many preseason games as did the Jackets, so Carolina will have an interesting decision to make on the youngster based on a smaller sample size.
Likewise for Columbus, this is Boone Jenner's last chance to impress the coaches and FO for a chance to stick with the big club roster for next week's opener. If I had to guess, I'd say he makes the team unless he just implodes tonight for some reason. But, given what we know about Boone, does anyone see such an implosion happening? I don't.
In Raleigh last week, the Jackets were able to rally for two goals in the third period to grab a 5-4 win on the road, with Cam Ward playing the entire way for the Canes. Not sure how much playing time each goalie will get tonight, but Ward will be back in the crease tonight for Carolina. Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start for Columbus.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(4-2-1 in pre-season)
*Note: there weren't line combinations, so much as a list of skaters playing tonight per the team
Forwards
Artem Anisimov
Cam Atkinson
Michael Chaput
Sean Collins
Blake Comeau
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner
Ryan Johansen
Mark Letestu
Jonathan Audy-Marchessault
Jack Skille
R.J. Umberger
Defense
Jack Johnson
Ilari Melart
Ryan Murray
Nikita Nikitin
Dalton Prout
James Wisniewski
Fedor Tyutin
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Jeremy Smith
Carolina Hurricanes
(1-3-0 in pre-season)
| Jiri Tlusty | Eric Staal | Chris Terry |
| Nathan Gerbe | Jordan Staal | Patrick Dwyer |
| Jeff Skinner | Riley Nash | Radek Dvorak |
| Drayson Bowman | Brett Sutter | Kevin Westgarth |
| Andrej Sekera | Justin Faulk |
| Ryan Murphy | Ron Hainsey |
| Jay Harrison | Brett Bellemore |
| Cam Ward |
| Anton Khudobin |