PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head to Minnesota looking for another win
Win over Ottawa on Monday gives team confidence going into second half of back-to-back
Monday night was another example of the team's ability to handle injuries and overcome adversity. Despite seeing both Riley Nash and Elvis Merzlikins go down in the second period, the Blue Jackets overcame a pair of deficits in the game and got back on the winning track with a 4-3 overtime victory over Ottawa.
Head coach John Tortorella has talked seemingly ad nauseum about his team's wherewithal throughout a seemingly endless array of injuries, but he couldn't help himself from going back to that topic in the postgame press conference Monday night.
And mere days after the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, whose legacy is often remembered in the rallying cries coach Herb Brooks gave to the underdog Americans, Tortorella made it clear this isn't quite the same situations.
"We have looked at this as a great opportunity," he said. "We lost a couple more guys tonight. It's just a great opportunity to find our team and define not giving in. … We don't have the big speeches where it's us against the world. There's none of that (crap) anymore. We know what we are. We have been this for months, and we have to be ready to do it each and every night as we tick the games off down here.
"We are still right in the thick of things."
It's a message Tortorella keeps going back to because he knows how easy it would be for his team to feel sorry for itself. Even after goaltender Joonas Korpisalo returned to the ice Monday night, the team had nine players out injured, and the situations with Nash and Merzlikins pushed the Blue Jackets into double digits.
Some help is on the way, as forward Devin Shore will join the team Tuesday night in Minnesota after being acquired from Anaheim on trade deadline Monday, but by and large the Blue Jackets have remained in a playoff spot as of Tuesday morning thanks to pieces simply finding a spot in the CBJ lineup and doing their job.
"There's no time to wait, there's no time to ease into it," said forward Stefan Matteau, who has two goals and an assist in three games since being recalled by the Blue Jackets after just three goals in his first 64 NHL games before this year. "There's not a lot of games left. We're in a push here, and I'm trying to make myself feel like part of the team right away."
One area of focus for the Blue Jackets in Minnesota will likely be a stronger start, as Columbus was outplayed by Ottawa for the first 10 minutes or so on Monday night before finding their game, and the team was lucky to be in a 1-1 tie at that point.
"We have to be better and we know it," captain Nick Foligno said. "We have to see the difference in what our team is capable of when we play a certain way and when we don't. That's a huge two points for us (vs. Ottawa) and I'm not going to take anything away from that, but we have to be ready to go tomorrow."
Know the Foe
It's been a year of upheaval in Minnesota, as the team switched general managers over the summer, fired head coach Bruce Boudreau in February and still looks likely to miss the playoffs while sitting in sixth place in the Central Division. The Wild have been sellers at the deadline, sending Jason Zucker to Pittsburgh earlier this month and then nearly shipping Zach Parise to the Islanders on Monday before deciding to keep the forward.
The irony is that the Wild are one of the top teams in the NHL in expected goals share per Natural Stat Trick, with the team fifth overall in expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 with 52.6 percent. Defense has been the calling card, with the team's 1.92 expected goals allowed at 5-on-5 per 60 minutes the best mark in the NHL, though the team is 26th in expected goals for at 2.14.
In the world of conventional stats, Minnesota is right in the middle of the pack, placing 16th in goal scoring with 3.02 goals per game, but defensively the team allows 3.18, 25th overall.
The team is led in scoring by a pair of 35-year-olds in Eric Staal and Ryan Suter. Staal leads the way with 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points, while Suter has a 7-34-41 line. Kevin Fiala adds 16 goals and 40 points, Parise has a team-high 21 goals as well as 37 points, and Mats Zuccarello has a 14-19-33 line. Luke Kunin adds 13 goals but is out with an injury.
In net, one of the downfalls of the team has been the struggle of Devan Dubnyk, who entered the year as the team's No. 1 but has only been able to post an 11-15-1 record with a 3.34 goals-against average and .892 save percentage, all while dealing with a medical issue facing his wife. Alex Stalock has 29 starts and is 15-9-4 with a 2.69 GAA and .908 save percentage.
3 Keys to the Game
Keep scoring: After a titanic struggle to score goals coming out of the All-Star break, the Blue Jackets have at least three in three straight games.
Korpi diem: The Blue Jackets could get a shot in the arm with having Joonas Korpisalo back as the starter, as he's the ultimate teammate and had a successful return in a tough situation Monday night.
Steady the kill: Columbus has taken just four penalties the past four games but given up goals on three of those kills. Yes, many of the usual PK men are out, but a 25 percent success rate just isn't going to get it done.
Of Note
Columbus has points in 30 of 35 games (20-5-10). … The team's 14 overtime losses lead the NHL. … Werenski leads all NHL defensemen with a CBJ-record 18 goals from the blue line this season. … Stefan Matteau has two goals and an assist in three games since his callup from AHL Cleveland, while Emil Bemstrom has scored in two straight. … Boone Jenner has a 1-3-4 line in the past three games. ... The Blue Jackets have played in one-goal contests (excluding empty-net goals) in 14 of the last 15 games and 40 one-goal games overall this season. … This is the first meeting of the year between the teams, though Columbus is 4-1-1 in the last six contests. They will rematch Friday in Nationwide Arena.
Projected Lineup
(Subject to change)
Gustav Nyquist - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Nick Foligno
Stefan Matteau - Boone Jenner - Nathan Gerbe
Calvin Thurkauf - Kevin Stenlund - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Devin Shore - Jakob Lilja
Zach Werenski - Markus Nutivaara
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratches:Oliver Bjorkstrand (injury), Riley Nash (injury), Gabriel Carlsson, Elvis Merzlikins (injury)
Roster Report:The Blue Jackets will be without both Nash and Merzlikins, who each left the game Monday vs. Ottawa and did not return. Neither traveled to Minnesota with the team. Shore should slot into the forward group for his CBJ debut while Kivlenieks rejoins the team on emergency recall to serve as Korpisalo's likely backup.
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