PREVIEW: Blue Jackets host Canadiens in crucial clash

BLUE JACKETS (42-30-4) vs. CANADIENS (41-28-8)Thursday, 7 p.m., Nationwide Arena (FOX Sports Ohio, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)
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After finishing up a long road trip Sunday with a win at Vancouver, the Blue Jackets came back to Columbus and downed the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
To paraphrase a famous baseball movie (hey, it's Opening Day, after all), "That's called a winning streak. It has happened before."
But to the Blue Jackets, it was the way they won those games that has quickly inspired confidence going into tonight's crucial home tilt with Montreal.
"You win a couple of games and you win them the way we did -- I thought we played really well in Vancouver," head coach John Tortorella said after the Tuesday victory over the defensive-minded Islanders. "We found a different way to win here. That helps as far as the tightness of the group and understanding what we have to do to win hockey games."

Now comes perhaps the most important game of the rest of the season. The Canadiens come to Columbus just two points ahead of the Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
PRACTICE REPORT: Werenski good to go
With Columbus holding the tiebreaker over Montreal, a Blue Jackets victory in regulation would knot the teams in points and put the CBJ on the right side of the playoff line. A Columbus loss in regulation would put the Jackets four points down with just five Blue Jackets games left this season. Any combination of overtime would make the game in hand the Blue Jackets hold a critical factor in the final sprint to the finish line of the regular season.
The key is to blend the confidence the team has gained through its past two shutout victories, won by a combined score of 9-0, and the urgency needed to not rest on their laurels.
"They should be confident, but I trust they are going to keep it level here," Tortorella said Tuesday night in his postgame availability. "We won a couple of games but we haven't gained on Montreal. Gained the other night, didn't gain tonight, so we have to keep on banging away here."
Coaches in any sport talk about the importance about not getting too high when things are going well and not getting too low when they are going badly, and the Blue Jackets certainly passed the test when it comes to the latter part of that equation.
A listless 4-1 loss at Edmonton last Thursday eventually left the Jackets as much as four points adrift from a playoff spot with eight games to go, and there was a growing sense outside of the locker room that the team's aggressive move at the trade deadline was blowing up in its face.
But even then, there was no panic in the Blue Jackets dressing room, or "doom and gloom" as Tortorella called it.
"We're excited," alternate captain Boone Jenner said. "This is where you want to be this time of year, playing games that mean something. You just want to have the chance to get in."
Each of the last two games have followed a similar script for the Blue Jackets. In each, Columbus got a first-period goal to take the early edge, then played solid defense as the game went on and got standout goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. In each game, Columbus was able to add on to its lead and choke the life out of the opposition as it built its lead.
And in both games, each player did his part, from the role players turning in solid efforts to the team's best players getting on the scoresheet. Of the six players on the roster with more than 20 goals on the season, all but Matt Duchene has scored a goal in the past two games, including a goal apiece for what had been the struggling top line trio of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson.
It's two games where Columbus has played the kind of hockey that can be successful any time of year, but particularly in the postseason. For the Blue Jackets, the playoff hockey has already begun.
"We just have to stick with it and play good hockey, and we have a big game against Montreal coming up here," Oliver Bjorkstrand said. "We gotta win it. We have to be ready for it. There's no excuse there. A huge game, and you just have to be ready for it."
Know the Foe
Montreal has already twice beaten the Blue Jackets, but they were two games Columbus feels like it should have won -- a 4-1 setback Jan. 18 that featured a strong CBJ push before two late Montreal empty-net goals, and a 3-2 loss Feb. 19 in which a late Habs goal was the difference.
The Canadiens have built one of the better 5-on-5 teams in the NHL, with 178 5-on-5 goals (fourth in the NHL) compared to 148 goals against. That's one reason why despite a struggling power play (last in the NHL at 12.4 percent) and a league-average penalty kill (80.6 percent, 16th in the league) the Canadiens are in position to make a run at the postseason.
Montreal also has rock-solid goaltender in Carey Price, whose 33 wins are tied for fifth in the NHL. In all, he's 33-22-6 with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage, and a goals saved above average mark of 15.65, seventh in the league. He has started 60 games, second most in the NHL, and figures to be in the net again vs. Columbus
Up front, no Montreal player is dominant -- none checks in among the top 25 scorers in the NHL -- but there is depth with 10 players having reached the 30-point mark. Max Domi leads the way with a 27-41-68 line, followed by the resurgent Tomas Tatar (25-32-57) and fellow wingers Brendan Gallagher (33-19-52) and Jonathan Drouin (18-34-52). That list doesn't even include do-it-all center Phillip Danault (12-37-49, plus-21) and flashy 18-year-old rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi (11-23-34).
The blue line is anchored by Jeff Petry, one of the top offensive D-men in the league who has 11 goals and 32 assists, and the presence of Shea Weber (13-19-32, plus-17).
In recent Habs news, Paul Byron (15-15-30) will not play after being injured in a fight Tuesday night with Florida's MacKenzie Weegar, while Drouin has been scraping for playing time with just two points in his last 13 games.
3 Keys
Learn from the Islanders game: Tortorella pointed out the way the Jackets scored goals is the way they'll have to do it if they make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Montreal is a similar beast to the Islanders in that Columbus has had chances but struggled to break through offensively vs. the Habs. The Islanders game is a blueprint to getting on the board tonight.
Special teams: It's always a factor, but it can be a big one in this game. Montreal's power play is the worst in the NHL while Columbus' PK has been great for three months now. That has to continue. Meanwhile, a power-play goal can be the difference when 5-on-5 goals are hard to come by.
No easy goals: Columbus has been on a tear defensively, giving up only 21 goals in the last 11 games. Take out empty-netters and that's 18 goals in the past 11. The big reason? Good goaltending, yes, but also good team defense that has cleared shooting lanes and prevented odd-man rushes.
Of Note
Columbus has won four games in a row in Nationwide Arena, outscoring teams 18-5 in that span. … With two consecutive blankings, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky's shutout streak has reached 157:55. He has one shutout as a Blue Jacket vs. Montreal, a 10-0 win in Columbus on Nov. 4, 2016. … The team record for longest shutout streak belongs to Steve Mason (199:28, Dec. 23, 2008 through Jan. 2, 2009). … Columbus had won four in a row against Montreal in Nationwide Arena before losing to the Habs in Columbus on Jan. 18. … Boone Jenner is two points from 200 in his Blue Jackets career. ... Columbus is 14-4-0 on Thursdays this season.
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Subject to change
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Ryan Dzingel - Matt Duchene - Josh Anderson
Boone Jenner - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Brandon Dubinsky - Riley Nash - Nick Foligno
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Markus Nutivaara - David Savard
Dean Kukan - Adam McQuaid
Sergei Bobrovsky (confirmed starter)
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched:Markus Hannikainen, Lukas Sedlak, Eric Robinson, Scott Harrington, Keith Kinakid, Elvis Merzlikins
Roster Report:Tortorella said Zach Werenski, who missed the last 13 minutes of Tuesday's game with an injury knock, will return to the ice while the rest of the lineup will remain the same.
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- Nick Foligno on his recent absence](https://www.nhl.com/bluejackets/video/pregame-32619-nick-foligno/t-277437100/c-67224203?partnerId=cbj-int-com-ddm-vid) - Behind the Battle: Trade deadline