Hockey’s back! Did you miss it? I did!
Columbus entered the break with 5 solid performances – or 4.5, at least – but only 3 wins to show for it. Still, if they can keep up that level of play they should win more than they lose.
Unfortunately, yesterday brought us some bad injury news: both Lukas Sedlak and Matt Calvert are on the IR with oblique strains. Sedlak’s is considered day-to-day while Calvert’s is considered week-to-week. Markus Hannikainen has been added on emergency recall, joining Oliver BJORKSTRAND. Joonas Korpisalo has rejoined the team as well, after starting on Wednesday with the Monsters.
Although Brandon Saad practiced on what is technically the fourth line with Sam Gagner and Scott Hartnell, I don’t consider this a demotion. I think Saad’s skill is what that line needs to break Gagner’s cold streak. I also expect Saad to get additional minutes on special teams.
The Islanders, meanwhile, have won 3 straight and 4 of their last 5. They are 12-4-2 under interim coach Doug Weight. A shutout victory over Montreal on Thursday has put them into the second wild card position (though still 11 points behind Columbus in the first wild card position. The Metro is absurd this year.)
Here’s what you need to know:
Saturday, February 25, 2017 – 5:00 EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Lighthouse Hockey
Columbus Blue Jackets, 37-16-5, 79 points, 4th Metro, 4th East
vs.
New York Islanders, 29-21-10, 68 points, 5th Metro, 7th East
Season Series
12/10/16 NYI 2 @ CBJ 6
01/24/17 CBJ 2 @ NYI 4
02/25/17 NYI @ CBJ
03/18/17 CBJ @ NYI
Stats
| Islanders | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.98 (7) | GPG | 3.19 (5) |
| 2.87 (24) | GAPG | 2.45(4) |
| 16.1% (25) | PP% | 22.2% (4) |
| 79.9% (23) | PK% | 82.2% (11) |
| 47.60% (25) | EV Corsi % | 50.52% (16) |
| 100.9 (8) | EV PDO | 101.2 (5) |
| John Tavares, 23 | G Leader | Cam Atkinson, 27 |
| Josh Bailey, 31 | A Leader | Alexander Wennberg, 38 |
| John Tavares, 52 | P Leader | Cam Atkinson, 50 |
| Travis Hamonic, 49 | PIM Leader | Josh Anderson, 62 |
| 9-13-4 | Home / Road | 21-9-1 |
| 7-3-0 | Last 10 | 5-4-1 |
Projected Lineups
| Nick Foligno | Alexander Wennberg | BJORKSTRAND |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Markus Hannikainen | William Karlsson | Josh Anderson |
| Brandon Saad | Sam Gagner | Scott Hartnell |
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Ryan Murray | Markus Nutivaara |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Josh Bailey | John Tavares | Anders Lee |
| Brock Nelson | Anthony Beauvillier | Ryan Strome |
| Jason Chimera | Alan Quine | Andrew Ladd |
| Nikolay Kulemin | Bracken Kearns | Stephen Gionta |
| Nick Leddy | Johnny Boychuk |
| Calvin de Haan | Dennis Seidenberg |
| Thomas Hickey | Scott Mayfield |
| Thomas Greiss |
| Jean-Francois Berube |