PREVIEW: Blue Jackets begin road swing at Arizona

BLUE JACKETS (8-5-0) at COYOTES (2-13-1)

"I'll say this about this home stretch," Larsen said after the Wings game. "That Washington game, we played really well. That one hurt. To not get a point out of that -- did we deserve to win or not, that's debatable for sure, they're a good hockey team -- but that stung. The next night, for about half of that game we were just fine, then we imploded in a minute and three seconds, and from there we unraveled, there's no question.
"So for about a period and a half out of these three games, that's about all I didn't like form us. … (Against Detroit), we came to play. We showed a lot of character tonight coming through here and coming from behind. It would have been real hard to get through that third game and not get anything for sure."
GAMEDAY GUIDE: CBJ news, lineups and more for tonight's tilt in Arizona
In fact, the numbers were pretty kind to the Blue Jackets in that three-game span, with Columbus at 5-on-5 having major edges on its three foes in shot attempts (53.55 percent), scoring chances (59.03 percent) and expected goal percentage (63.04). If the Jackets can keep that up, outpacing teams in both quantity and quality of chances, the odds are in their favor good things are on the horizon.
They'll get the chance to keep it going tonight against a struggling Arizona team, and there were plenty of good vibes around the team after Monday's win as the Jackets headed west.
"It felt good," Werenski said of Monday's win. "I think this past weekend, we could have got a few points out of it. We didn't. We're going on a long road trip here, so it's nice to get a win before hitting the road and playing some away games. You lose two in a row, obviously you don't want to make it three, so it was nice to stop that there and get two points before hitting the road."

Know the Foe

Preseason projections were not kind to Arizona going into the season, but the reality of the season has been even worse. Arizona is last in the league with just five points in the first 16 games, the worst record in the NHL and a mark that has the team potentially in the running to be one of the worst teams of the salary cap era.
After an 8-2 loss to the Blue Jackets on opening night, the Coyotes were winless through the first 11 games, going 0-10-1 before a 5-4 win Nov. 6 vs. Seattle. The team then lost three more in a row but is coming off a 3-2 win Tuesday night at St. Louis.
Still, the numbers paint a bleak picture, with the Coyotes last in the league in scoring with just 1.63 goals per game, nearly half a goal worse than 31st-place Montreal. Arizona is also last in the league in team defense (3.81 goals allowed per game), meaning the Coyotes have been outscored by more than two goals per game on average, while the penalty kill is at 67.3 percent, third worst in the league. The power play is at 16.7 percent, 23rd in the league, while Arizona has tallied just 19 goals at 5-on-5 in 16 games.
Only one player has reached double digits in points, and it's been a good bounce-back season for defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, as the former Flyer leads the way with a 2-11-13 line. Lawson Crouse had two goals against the Blues and leads the way with four goals among his eight points, while Phil Kessel adds 2-5-7, Clayton Keller has three goals and three assists, and Christian Fischer has a 2-3-5 line. Then there's Jacob Chychrun, a 23-year-old defenseman the team expected to built around who is an NHL-worst minus-24.
In net, Czech import Karel Vejmelka has started 10 games and played in 12, but he's 0-9-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .897 save percentage. Scott Wedgewood, who was claimed off waivers from New Jersey and actually started against Columbus for the Devils on Oct. 31, has both wins with a 2-1-0 record, 1.82 GAA and .941 save percentage.
The injury bug also has been unkind to the Coyotes, with Johan Larsson, Christian Fischer, Dmitrij Jaskin, Carter Hutton, Nick Schmaltz and Conor Timmins all on injured reserve and former CBJ forward Ryan Dzingel just activated today.