Preview: Winding Down the Regular Season
Columbus Blue Jackets play their final game of the regular season against the Nashville Predators. It’s going to be fun, guys!
Saturday, April 7th, 2018; 8 pm est
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
TV: Fox Sports Ohio
Radio: 97.1 WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: On The Forecheck
Columbus Blue Jackets; 45-29-7, 97 points, 3rd Metropolitan, 6th East
vs
Nashville Predators; 52-18-11, 115 points, 1st Central, 1st West
Season Series
11/7/2018 - NSH (3) @ CBJ (1)
04/07/2018 - CBJ @ NSH
Stats
| Nashville | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.17 (8) | GPG | 2.89 (17) |
| 2.49 (2) | GAPG | 2.74 (10) |
| 20.9% (14) | PP% | 17.3% (24) |
| 81.9% (6) | PK% | 76.5% (25) |
| 51.53% (8) | EV Corsi % | 51.50% (9) |
| 101.8 (3) | EV PDO | 100.3 (13) |
| Viktor Arvidsson, 29 | G Leader | Artemi Panarin, 27 |
| P.K. Subban, 43 | A Leader | Artemi Panarin, 55 |
| Arvidsson, Forsberg, 61 | P Leader | Artemi Panarin, 82 |
| Austin Watson, 113 | PIM Leader | Nick Foligno, 50 |
| 27-9-4 | Home / Road | 19-17-4 |
| 5-4-1 | Last 10 | 7-1-2 |
Tonight the Columbus Blue Jackets regular season ends with a full throttle tilt against the number one team in the West, the Nashville Predators. All season long the Jackets fought for a playoff spot. After pushing Thursday’s game against the Penguins to overtime, the Jackets clinched the spot they coveted. Tonight begins a new battle for the Jackets. They will be playing for placement. At this point in the game, the Jackets have no clue who they are playing once the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin.
Head Coach John Tortorella made the decision to rest many of his key players for the game. This means guys like Eric Robinson, Alex Broadhurst, and Taylor Chorney will get their chance to shine. By going toe-to-toe with P.K. Subban and Viktor Arvidsson, these young bloods will be able to show if they have the NHL moxie or not.
The Predators will be a bit of a bear to handle. They are still fired up over the “no goal incident” from the other night.
Here’s the major key to winning tonight’s game. Have fun! This is the last game of the regular season. Tomorrow is literally the start of playoffs and they are in it to win it. The Jackets need to take tonight with a grain of salt. Win or lose, they are in the playoffs.
Fans, kick back, grab a beer, and enjoy every aspect of the game. Once playoffs start we are going to experience 60+ minutes a night wanting to puke our guts out.
Projected Lineups
| Sonny Milano | Pierre Luc Dubois | Josh Anderson |
| Alex Broadhurst | Boone Jenner | Thomas Vanek |
| Eric Robinson | Mark Letestu | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Markus Hannikainen |
| Ian Cole | David Savard |
| Taylor Chorney | Jack Johnson |
| Scott Harrington | Dean Kukan |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Filip Forsberg | Ryan Johansen | Scott Hartnell |
| Kevin Fiala | Kyle Turris | Craig Smith |
| Colton Sissons | Nick Bonino | Ryan Hartman |
| Miikka Salomaki | Mike Fisher | Austin Watson |
| Roman Josi | Matt Irwin |
| Alexei Emelin | P.K. Subban |
| Mattias Ekholm | Ryan Ellis |
| Pekka Rinne |
| Juuse Saros |