PREVIEW: Columbus faces another challenge at Calgary

BLUE JACKETS (40-28-4) at FLAMES (44-21-7)Tuesday, 9 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary (FOX Sports Ohio, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)
With St. Patrick's Day in the books and March approaching its annual Madness, here's a stat that's both unlucky and quite maddening.
The entire month of March, a full nine games, Blue Jackets center Pierre-Luc Dubois does not have a point.
It's a nine-game stretch that is out of character for the 20-year-old pivot, who in his first 63 games was humming along with career highs of 23 goals, 31 assists and 54 points.

So what's going on with Dubois, and by extension, a CBJ top line that's hit its first real scoring drought of the season?
To hear him tell it, it's more a case of the breaks of the game than any precipitous dropoff in his game.
"It's just the way hockey goes sometimes," he said before the team's game at Boston on Saturday night. "It's weird. There's some games I get two points and I don't think I deserve any of them, and then there's some games I get zero and I think I deserve two. It's just how hockey works."
Dubois points to strong performances in some recent games as an example. He had a number of good looks at the net last Monday on Long Island but couldn't get any of them past Thomas Greiss, and he thought he was impactful in the back-to-back games vs. Pittsburgh last week. Then there were the plays he made Friday against Carolina to set up the team's first goal, as he twice won the puck along the wall and then provided a screen on Adam McQuaid's goal.
And as players say, the real issue is when scoring chances disappear, not when they just don't go in, and Dubois said his chances have still been there.
"We always look at scoring chances after five or six games, and I know after five or six games, I look at that sheet to see how I'm doing offensively, and it's one of my highest of the year the past five or six games," he said. "So it's one of those things. That's part of hockey."
Head coach John Tortorella had moved Dubois around a little bit after the acquisition of center Matt Duchene before the trade deadline, though he's landed back on a line with wingers Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson.
Tortorella said that line has had its chances and he has no plans to shake it up at the moment. As for Dubois not being on the score sheet, the head coach said the biggest thing the young centerman has to do is not try to press.
"He is a candidate to get frustrated very quickly. We've had many conversations about that," Tortorella said. "You can see he cares so much, but he spends a lot of energy coming to the bench after shifts pissing and moaning about it. It just doesn't do you any good. But I think he's really concentrated on just getting ready for his next shift."
Dubois has been called the driver of that top line all season, as his physical play, 200-foot game and own scoring touch have perfectly complimented the playmaking abilities of Panarin and the elite sniping of Atkinson.
While the scoring hasn't been there the last few games, Dubois still thinks he's contributing.
"There are some guys, their job is to score goals and if they don't score goals, you don't know what they're doing out there, but I don't think I'm that kind of player," Dubois said. "I think I'm still doing some good stuff out there. I'm not scoring, and that is part of my job. It's frustrating, but at the same time, I think I'm doing a lot of good things out there to compensate.
"It's frustrating, but you look at the scoring chances and everything, and it just doesn't make sense. But that's how hockey works sometimes."
Know the Foe
The Blue Jackets haven't seen Pacific Division-leading Calgary since Dec. 4, when the Flames invaded Nationwide Arena and put up a 9-6 victory that was the poster-child game for the wide-open, high-scoring goal-fest that was the first few months of this NHL season.
Things have calmed down since then when it comes to goals, but Calgary can still fill up the net. With 3.56 goals per game, the Flames are fourth in the league in scoring, including games last week where Calgary scored six goals (in a 6-3 win vs. Vegas) and nine goals (in a 9-4 victory vs. New Jersey). The Flames are particularly high scoring at home, with the team averaging 4.27 goals per game at the home of the Calgary Stampede.
When it comes to scoring, Johnny Gaudreau leads the way. Johnny Hockey is tied for fifth in the NHL with 91 points thanks to 34 goals and 51 assists. But he's far from a one-man show as five Flames have at least 67 points - Elias Lindholm (27-50-77), Sean Monahan (31-45-76), Matthew Tkachuk (32-41-73) and veteran defenseman Mark Giordano (14-53-67). Tkachuk has a 6-4-10 line in the last four games.
Calgary is also a solid defensive team, allowing 2.81 goals per game, 10th in the NHL, though the goaltending situation worries some, as David Rittich is near the middle of the pack in goals saved above average while Mike Smith is 64th of 69 goalies in the league. Rittich is 25-7-5 this year with a 2.65 GAA and a .910 save percentage, while Smith checks in at 19-14-2/2.88/.896.
The Flames have still already clinched a playoff spot and have a one-point lead on San Jose in the Pacific Division.
3 Keys
Score on the power play: Calgary is 20th in the league with a 79.9-percent mark on the penalty kill, so they are susceptible to the odd power-play goal. Columbus hasn't had many chances on the man advantage recently and has had to rearrange its power-play personnel a bit, so a goal would be huge.
Keep the defense stout: Calgary simply pours in the goals in the Saddledome and has the NHL's fourth-best record at home. The Blue Jackets have to keep the strong defensive play, which includes just 11 non-empty-net goals allowed in the last seven games, going.
Kick off the revenge tour: Columbus lost at home to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver during each of their trips this year. The Jackets need to return the favor some here.
Of Note
The Blue Jackets have collected points in three-straight games (2-0-1), the longest point streak since a four-game win streak from Feb. 5-12. … The Jackets' 42 points recorded on the road are already tied for fourth-most in a single campaign in club history and only trail 2016-17 (51 points), 2014-15 (49) and 2013-14 (45). … Gaudreau has a 3-4-7 line in six games vs. Columbus in his career, including two goals in the first matchup this year. … The Blue Jackets are 14-12-0-2 all-time in Calgary. ... Cam Atkinson had a hat trick in the first meeting between the teams. … The only former Blue Jackets on the Calgary roster is Dalton Prout, who has an assist in 15 games but has not played since March 6.
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Subject to change
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Ryan Dzingel - Matt Duchene - Josh Anderson
Lukas Sedlak - Boone Jenner - Riley Nash
Brandon Dubinsky - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Adam McQuaid
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Markus Hannikainen, Eric Robinson, Nick Foligno, Dean Kukan, Keith Kinakid
Roster Report: Dzingel did not practice Monday, and head coach John Tortorella did not say after practice whether the winger would be ready to face Calgary. If he's out, Wennberg could slide up as a winger with Duchene and Anderson, with Eric Robinson moving in to take his spot on the fourth line.
In addition, Foligno missed the Boston game while dealing with a personal matter and did not practice Monday.
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