Game Preview #11 - Duck and Cover
The Blue Jackets push for four in a row at home as the Anaheim Ducks come to town.
Anaheim Ducks at Columbus Blue Jackets
October 27, 2013 - 6:00 pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, OH
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog:Â Anaheim Calling
SBN's Ducks vs Blue Jackets coverage
Tickets
The Jackets are playing well over the past week at home. Three games, three wins, back to .500. The Ducks come in to end this four-game home-stand, and bring with them one of the more potent offenses in the league... and this is after sending Bobby Ryan packing this off-season. However, the Ducks are fighting the injury bug, with several guys out of the lineup at present. And, not surprisingly, they've lost two of three after a 6-1-0 start.
The Jackets are coming off of arguably their biggest win of the year, having strongly outplayed the Leafs for 40+ minutes on Friday and sending many of the Toronto fans home bummed. However, they come into this one with a couple of injuries: Boone Jenner is out indefinitely with a leg injury, and Derek MacKenzie is out today with a lower-body injury. Ryan Craig will draw in, and Michael Chaput got the call yesterday and will make his NHL debut tonight.
With those two guys in, and a non-mandatory morning skate, we're not 100% sure what the lines may look like at this point. I'd imagine Chaput will play on the fourth line, with Mark Letestu moving over to center it. Not sure about Craig, as I can't see him playing on the second line. That said, who knows? All hands on deck, y'all.
In looking at the basic stats, one thing jumps out: despite the strong, strong offense the Ducks have, their Power Play is simply God-awful. They come in converting UNDER SEVEN PERCENT of their PP chances. The Jackets' PK had a great night on Friday, holding the Leafs' powerful unit in check. Hopefully they can continue to build on that tonight and keep the Ducks struggling.
Likewise, the Ducks' PK has been pretty bad as well. Columbus isn't lighting it up on the PP consistently, but they've been managing to score with some regularity despite the inconsistency. Let's keep those Ducks' special teams scuffling, boys. Doing so will go a long way toward making it four in a row and climbing above .500 as well as moving up in the standings.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(5-5-0, 10 Points; 4th division, 9th conference)
| Nick Foligno | Artem Anisimov | Marian Gaborik |
| Ryan Craig | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Blake Comeau | Ryan Johansen | R.J. Umberger |
| Michael Chaput | Mark Letestu | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Ryan Murray | James Wisniewski |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Anaheim Ducks
(8-3-0, 16 Points; 3rd division, 4th conference)
| Patrick Maroon | Ryan Getzlaf | Corey Perry |
| Emerson Etem | Nick Bonino | Teemu Selanne |
| Andrew Cogliano | Saku Koivu | Kyle Palmieri |
| Daniel Winnik | Peter Holland | Devante Smith-Pelly |
| Hampus Lindholm | Francois Beauchemin |
| Bryan Allen | Sami Vatanen |
| Mark Fistric | Cam Fowler |
| Frederik Andersen |
| Jonas Hiller |
Season Series
10/27/13 - Anaheim at Columbus
02/03/14 - Columbus at Anaheim
Head to Head Stats
Anaheim Columbus 3.09 (7) GPG 2.70 (19) 2.54 (10) GAPG 2.50 (7) 6.8% (30) PP% 20.5% (12) 75.6% (28) PK% 78.1% (22) Corey Perry, 5 G leader Marian Gaborik, 5 Ryan Getzlaf, 7 A leader James Wisniewski, 7 Corey Perry / Ryan Getzlaf, 11 Pts leader Marian Gaborik, 10 Patrick Maroon / Bryan Allen, 15 PIM leader Brandon Dubinsky, 15 3-3-0 Road/Home 3-2-0 10/25 @ Ottawa, W 2-1 Last Game 10/25 vs. Toronto, W 5-2 8-2-0 Last 10 5-5-0