Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Bruins

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. BRUINS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 3-5-0, T-7th in Metropolitan
BOSTON: 7-1-0, 1st in Atlantic
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 p.m. ET
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BROADCAST INFO
TV:
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CBJ Player Statistics
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NHL Standings
RECENT ARTICLES
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GAME PROMOTIONS
Hockey Halloween

What They're Saying

There is no denying the Blue Jackets didn't play their best in their last outing, a 6-3 loss to Arizona on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena that could have moved the team back to .500 on the season.
It was a quizzical performance considering how well Columbus had played a game earlier in a 5-1 win at the New York Rangers, but sometimes Occam's razor is the answer. Simply put, playing the last of five games in eight days, the Blue Jackets just simply couldn't find the gas pedal against the Coyotes.
"Everybody wants to dissect it -- what happened, right?" head coach Brad Larsen said Thursday. "We were tired. The next thing (you say) is no excuses. I agree, but the reality is we started the season with three games in four nights, we get two days off, and we play five in eight. We looked like a tired team.
"If it was two or three guys, then we have some issues. But it was from my captain all the way to our goalie. We looked like we were out of gas. I wish we didn't (look that way), but we did."
In the end, as Larsen said, it wasn't like the Coyotes came at the Blue Jackets in waves, as Columbus had edges of 33-19 in shots on goal and 66-38 in shot attempts. But Arizona was opportunistic, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on just nine shot attempts, notching two power-play goals and never letting the Jackets wrest back control.
The hope is the Blue Jackets will have recharged the batteries having had Wednesday off and going through an hour-long practice Thursday. Columbus also should be boosted by the
debut of defenseman
David Jiricek, the team's first pick in the 2022 draft.

Know The Foe: Boston Bruins

Head coach: Jim Montgomery (First season)
Season Stats: Goals per game: 4.25 (2nd) | Scoring defense: 2.63 (7th) | PP: 25.0 percent (10th) | PK: 93.3 percent (3rd)
The narrative: It's hard to believe the Bruins haven't lifted the Stanley Cup since 2011 given the franchise's consistent status as one of the league's top teams, with Boston having made six consecutive playoff appearances and 13 postseason bids in the last 15 seasons. The Cup is again the goal in Beantown, with the veteran-laden squad bringing in some reinforcements to aid depth and complement stars such as Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy.
2021-22 leaders:Marchand (32-48-80), Pastrnak (40-37-77) and Bergeron (25-40-65) again comprised one of the top lines in the NHL, while McAvoy (10-46-56, plus-31) led the blue line in scoring. Taylor Hall (61 points) and Jake DeBrusk (25 goals) added to the depth, while goalies Linus Ullmark (26-10-2/2.45/.917) and Jeremy Swayman (23-14-3/2.41/.914) each had matching lines of 41 games played and 39 starts.
What's new: The Bruins swapped out forward Erik Haula for Pavel Zacha, added A.J. Greer from New Jersey's system and welcomed David Krejci back from Czechia. And even without McAvoy (shoulder) and Marchand (hip), Boston has gotten off to one of the best starts in the league with wins in seven of eight.
Marchand did return last night in a 5-1 win vs. Detroit and had a pair of goals, but he is not expected to play tonight. The Bruins also lost David Krejci (2-6-8) to an upper body injury against the Red Wings, while McAvoy remains out. Not that it has mattered so far thanks to Pastrnak's league-best 15 points (six goals, nine assists), Bergeron's 4-4-8 line and Hampus Lindholm's 2-5-7 mark from the blue line. Ullmark has won all five starts, boasting a 2.01 GAA and .936 save percentage.
Trending:Boston won all three games in the series a year ago but the Jackets did take a pair of points thanks to a shootout loss on Rick Nash's jersey retirement night and an OT loss later in the season. Before that, Columbus had a 5-2-1 record in the previous eight games of the series.
Former CBJ: Nick Foligno had just two goals last year, but the former Jackets captain is off to a strong start with three tallies and an assist in the first eight games. Mike Reilly has played seven games on defense but was sent to the AHL upon Marchand's return, while Anton Stralman has played in one game.

3 Keys to the Game

Win special teams: The Bruins come to town with two top-10 units and tallied three power-play goals last night against the Red Wings. This area killed the Jackets on Tuesday; it has to be better tonight.
Top line chemistry: With Patrik Laine back for a second game, the Jackets will look to see if his top trio with Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Roslovic can get on the board.
Play hungry: Boston is deep but is missing three of its key players for the matchup. Columbus has to take advantage while playing in its own building on a Friday night.

3 Stats to Know

• A year after finishing with just two goals -- both empty-netters -- defenseman Andrew Peeke has two goals in the last two games.
• David Jiricek is set to become the seventh 18-year-old to play for the Blue Jackets, joining Dan Fritsche (2003), Rick Nash (2002), Nikita Filatov (2008), Cole Sillinger (2021), Rostislav Klesla (2000) and Gilbert Brule (2005). At 18 years, 334 days old, he will become the second youngest defenseman in team history after Klesla (18 years, 200 days)
• Milestone watch: Gustav Nyquist is one point away from 100 (35-64-99) in his CBJ career, while Boone Jenner is set to play in his 598th game with Columbus and will break a tie with David Savard to move into fourth all-time in CBJ history. With one more goal, Zach Werenski will tie Ryan Johansen for ninth in CBJ annals with 79 tallies.

Who's Hot

Kent Johnson has scored a goal in each of the last three games and has a four-game point streak. … Jack Roslovic has a 1-3-4 line in the past three games. … Gaudreau has at least a point in all five home games this year (5-2-7). … Yegor Chinakhov has a 1-4-5 line in the last five contests. … Jakub Voracek has five assists in the last five games. … The Blue Jackets have 15 different goal scorers on the season and 20 different players with at least a point. … Columbus has seven goals from defensemen on the season, tied for first in the NHL with the Panthers and Islanders.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 28, 2005: In the first-ever shootout in franchise history, Trevor Letowski scores in the eighth round to push the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 triumph over Minnesota at Nationwide Arena. Adam Foote scored an extra-attacker goal at 19:18 of the third to send the game to extra time. Mark Hartigan also scored in the third round of the shootout for the first CBJ tally in the skills competition.
Oct. 28, 2016: Sergei Bobrovsky makes 35 saves in a 4-0 victory at Anaheim to post his second shutout in the span of a week.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Jack Roslovic - Patrik Laine
Gustav Nyquist - Boone Jenner - Kent Johnson
Yegor Chinakhov - Cole Sillinger - Jakub Voracek
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Liam Foudy
Zach Werenski - Andrew Peeke
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Jiricek
Gavin Bayreuther - Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Scratches: Mathieu Olivier, Nick Blankenburg (upper body), Jake Bean (illness)
Injured reserve/Injured non-roster:Adam Boqvist (broken foot; out six weeks as of Oct. 26); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery; out six months as of Oct. 25); Joonas Korpisalo (hip, day to day); Joona Luoto (lower body, day to day)
Roster Report:The Blue Jackets shook up the lines in practice Thursday and are set to make multiple roster moves. Foudy will go in on the fourth line in place of Olivier, while Jiricek replaces Boqvist. In addition, Bean missed practice Thursday with illness and is out, with Bayreuther going in his spot. Merzlikins gets the start in net.