Game Preview #6 - Les Vestes Bleues Sont Formidables!
The Jackets head to Montreal to continue their road trip.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens
October 17, 2013 - 7:30pm EDT
Bell Centre - Montreal, Quebec
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Eyes On The Prize
SBN's Canadiens vs Blue Jackets Coverage
The Jackets are back in action tonight as their road trip continues. They get a hot Canadiens team coming back home. The Habs, after losing their opener, have rattled off four wins in five games, including a current three-game winning streak. They're scoring a ton (more than a goal per game more than our Jackets), and Carey Price has been nothing short of excellent thus far, with a .944 save % and a 1.81 goals-against in five games thus far. He shut out the Jets Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
Columbus is working through some offensive struggles. I think we all expected that scoring goals would be tough at times, but back to back games with just one goal each (on 27 and 37 shots, respectively) are magnifying the issue. Granted, some of that is the opposition, but they've been getting shots. It's a question of quality at times.
Despite saying there would be no lineup changes, from morning skate there do appear to be some line shifts up from. Nick Foligno remains out, and Artem Anisimov appears to be moving to the wing in his place. I think this is a good move, as Arty is struggling right now. Perhaps lessening that end-to-end game will free him up to get his offensive game untracked.
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start again tonight, and it appears no changes will be made to the defense. This would mean Dalton Prout is out again.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(2-3-0, 4 Points; 4th division, 9th conference)
| Cam Atkinson | Brandon Dubinsky | Marian Gaborik |
| Artem Anisimov | Ryan Johansen | R.J. Umberger |
| Boone Jenner | Mark Letestu | Blake Comeau |
| Ryan Craig | Derek MacKenzie | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Jack Johnson |
| Ryan Murray | James Wisniewski |
| Nikita Nikitin | David Savard |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Montreal Canadiens
(4-2-0, 8 Points; 3rd Division, 4th Conference)
| Alex Galchenyuk | Lars Eller | Brendan Gallagher |
| Rene Bourque | Tomas Plekanec | Brian Gionta |
| Brandon Prust | David Desharnais | Danny Briere |
| Travis Moen | Michael Bournival | Ryan White |
| Andrei Markov | P.K. Subban |
| Josh Gorges | Raphael Diaz |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Francis Bouillon |
| Carey Price |
| Peter Budaj |
Season Series
10/17/13 - Columbus at Montreal
11/15/13 - Montreal at Columbus
03/20/14 - Columbus at Montreal
Head to Head Stats
Montreal Columbus 3.33 (9) GPG 2.20 (23) 1.67 (4) GAPG 2.40 (10) 26.9% (7) PP% 25.0% (9) 84.0% (9) PK% 85.7% (7) Lars Eller, 5 G leader four tied, 2 P.K. Subban / Alex Galchenyuk, 7 A leader Marian Gaborik, 4 P.K. Subban, 8 Pts leader Marian Gaborik, 6 George Parros, 20 PIM leader Jared Boll, 12 1-1-0 Home/Road 2-1-0 10/15 @ Winnipeg, W 3-0 Last Game 10/15 @ Detroit, L 2-1 4-2-0 Last 10 2-3-0
Game Notes
Rather than a bulleted list, I'll just say this: this Jackets team isn't playing "badly" per se. They need to finish their chances. It won't be easy against a tough goalie who's playing well. They also need to continue to improve the sloppiness in their own zone. Montreal can punish them if they're bad in their own zone again. I feel like the Jackets *can* win this game, but they're going to have to play like they did in the first period against Detroit, and yet bury those chances. An 18-shot period with no goals just isn't going to cut it.