Gameday: Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets
These guys again?
Two earlier games this weekend! First up, Columbus hosts Carolina late this afternoon at Nationwide Arena. This will be the third meeting between these teams in the last 11 days. The home team won each meeting, with Carolina winning the first 5-3 and Columbus winning 4-1 on Tuesday.
Tonight is Military Appreciation Night. For those of you going, you should stay in your seats for the first intermission, as the Ohio Warriors will be playing a scrimmage. Cannon commenter shockerblue will be participating. Be sure to cheer on him and his teammates.
In roster news, John Tortorella announced yesterday that Matt Calvert will be a healthy scratch, saying only it was a “coach’s decision.” Markus Hannikainen, who is way too familiar with the drive down I-71 at this point, will be active in his place. David Savard suffered an undisclosed injury on Thursday and will likely miss this one as well.
Hannikainen, Harrington, AND Prout?
On the plus side, Carolina is on the second leg of a back-to-back, where they just lost at home to Pittsburgh, 7-1. Ouch.
Ohio native Alex Nedeljkovic, who made his NHL debut in relief of Cam Ward on Tuesday, was sent back to AHL Charlotte, and former Blue Jacket benchwarmer Michael Leighton was recalled. Leighton will likely start tonight.
Here’s what you need to know:
Saturday, January 21, 2017 - 5:00 EST (note the different time)
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Canes Country
Columbus Blue Jackets, 30-10-4, 64 points, 2nd Metro, 2nd East
vs.
Carolina Hurricanes, 21-17-7, 49 points, 6th Metro, 10th East
Season Series
1/10/17 CBJ 3 @ CAR 5
1/17/17 CAR 1 @ CBJ 4
1/21/17 CAR @ CBJ
3/30/17 CBJ @ CAR
Stats
| Carolina | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.73 (14) | GPG | 3.25 (4) |
| 2.66 (13) | GAPG | 2.20 (2) |
| 16.9% (21) | PP% | 24.6% (1) |
| 89.1% (1) | PK% | 83.9% (8) |
| 51.50% (8) | EV Corsi % | 50.33% (16) |
| 98.8 (25) | EV PDO | 102.2 (3) |
| Jeff Skinner, 17 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 21 |
| Victor Rask, 19 | A Leader | Alexander Wennberg, 28 |
| Jeff Skinner, 35 | P Leader | Cam Atkinson, 43 |
| Viktor Stalberg, 29 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, 54 |
| 6-12-6 | Home / Road | 17-5-1 |
| 6-4-0 | Last 10 | 5-5-0 |
Projected Lineups
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Cam Atkinson |
| Scott Hartnell | Brandon Dubinsky | Nick Foligno |
| Boone Jenner | William Karlsson | Josh Anderson |
| Markus Hannikainen | Lukas Sedlak | Sam Gagner |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Jack Johnson | Dalton Prout |
| Ryan Murray | Scott Harrington |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Jeff Skinner | Victor Rask | Derek Ryan |
| Brock McGinn | Jordan Stall | Elias Lindholm |
| Sebatian Aho | Teuvo Teravainen | Lee Stempniak |
| Joakim Nordstrom | Jay McClement | Viktor Stalberg |
| Jacob Slavin | Brett Pesce |
| Ron Hainsey | Justin Faulk |
| Noah Hanifin | Matt Tennyson |
| Michael Leighton |
| Cam Ward |