PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head home to take on Detroit
Columbus looks to get a win to kick off the home stretch on Military Appreciation Night
The shorthanded Jackets have lost nine in a row (0-7-2), tied for the longest win streak in franchise history, and the last two setbacks in Tampa Bay were marked by stretches of good play -- and bad breaks on two big goals.
In Thursday's series opener, goalie Elvis Merzlikins was hit in the helmet by a high stick moments before the Lightning scored the game-winning goal, leading to a protest from the CBJ netminder but a goal that stood because it couldn't be challenged.
Then in Sunday's finale, another bad break allowed the Lightning to score a key goal in the third period. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo suffered a lower-body injury with the team on the penalty kill and tried to fight through it, but he couldn't move over on a cross-ice pass, allowing Lightning rookie Alex Barre-Boulet to score his first career goal to tie the score at 3 in what would become a 4-3 overtime setback.
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There's little doubt the Jackets are shorthanded right now thanks to injuries and trade deadline deals, but it also seems a bit unfair to have the luck going against them as well as they try to at least finish strong down the stretch.
"It is what it is," head coach John Tortorella could only lament after the Sunday series finale.
The Blue Jackets won't get a ton of sympathy from opponents -- it is the highest level, after all -- but the positive sign for the team is the way its pieced-together roster stuck with it in going toe-to-toe with the defending Stanley Cup champions, who are battling for playoff positioning down the stretch. That included a two-goal performance from Eric Robinson on Sunday, though the forward was more focused on the team aspect after his showing.
"it's hard when you're not getting the results to stick with it," Robinson said. "I thought we did a pretty good job in the last two games of sticking with it during tough times. I think if we keep going with it, we'll see a result here."
The Blue Jackets will look to snap the losing skid tonight against Detroit, which enters two points ahead of Columbus in the standings in the battle for last place in the Central. While Robinson has been encouraged about the way the team has played of late, what has been missing is getting the chance to enjoy a win with teammates.
"I mean, it still sucks," Robinson said of the losing string. "But we'll end the road trip on that and try to build off of it. We played a pretty good, hard game, and we'll take the momentum home with us."
Know the Foe
Detroit's rebuild still has a long way to go, but there has been progress this year in the Motor City.
A year after the wings won just 17 of their 71 games, this year they have 17 victories in the first 50 games as they head to Columbus for tonight's one-off game with the Blue Jackets. Included in that progress is a 4-3-0 record against a Carolina team that leads the Central Division and three victories thus far in five tries against a Columbus team they have now passed to get out of the division cellar.
It's still not a great team -- the Wings are 30th in the NHL in scoring (2.28 goals per game), 23rd in team defense (3.12 gpg), 30th in power play (11.0 percent) and 25th in penalty kill (76.9 percent) -- but it has been a step forward from a year that was one of the worst in the salary cap era a season ago.
As we noted, goal-scoring remains the biggest issue, as the team leaders in points - forward Dylan Larkin and defenseman Filip Hronek - have just 23 on the season, the lowest team-leading mark of any team in the NHL. Larkin has a 9-14-23 line while Hronek leads the squad with 21 assists, while three players in Anthony Mantha (11), Adam Erne (11) and Robby Fabbri (10) are also in double digits in goals.
The team also has been beset by injuries, as Larkin is out for the year with an upper-body injury, joining forwards Bobby Ryan, Tyler Bertuzzi and Frans Nielsen. Fabbri (upper body) also has not played since April 3.
In net, Thomas Greiss is 6-15-7 in 31 games (26 starts), including a 4-0-2 record in his last six starts, while boasting a 2.95 GAA and .904 save percentage. Jonathan Bernier has been solid all year (9-9-1/3.02/.912) and is coming off a 50-save performance Saturday night in Nashville. Calvin Pickard, who posted back-to-back wins over Columbus in late March, has not played this month.
3 Keys to the Game
Play for pride: With a loss, this will become the first CBJ team ever to go winless in 10 straight. There has to be an attitude to avoid that fate.
Varied scoring: Two of Columbus' four lines got on the board Sunday, with the 50-16-28 line tallying twice. That's the kind of scoring depth you need to win games.
More shots: The Blue Jackets had just 39 shots on goal over two games while being swept in Detroit in late March. Columbus has to generate more to create more offense.
Of Note
Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team in all three major statistical categories this year with a 15-23-38 line and is on a five-game point streak (1-5-6). ... Cam Atkinson (14-17-31) and Jack Roslovic (10-20-30) follow. … Roslovic, whose 30 points are a career high, has eight points (4-4-8) in the last 10 games. … Atkinson is one point from 400 in his career (212-187-399), while Roslovic is three points from 100 in his NHL career (36-61-97). … Tortorella has 670 career wins, two behind Mike Keenan for 12th place in NHL history. … Columbus has stopped 45 of 50 power-play chances against (90.0 percent) in the last 19 games. … Columbus will play five of the last six in Nationwide Arena. … The Blue Jackets have tallied first in 29 of 50 games but won just 12 of those contests. … Columbus is 2-2-1 this year vs. Detroit with three games left, all in Nationwide Arena. ... The Blue Jackets won the previous contest in Columbus between the teams by a 4-1 score March 2, and the Jackets have won six of the last seven between the teams in Nationwide Arena.
Projected Lineup presented by Blue Technologies
(Subject to change)
Eric Robinson - Max Domi - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Patrik Laine - Jack Roslovic - Liam Foudy
Mikhail Grigorenko - Alexandre Texier - Cam Atkinson
Nathan Gerbe - Ryan MacInnis - Stefan Matteau
Michael Del Zotto - Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov - Mikko Lehtonen
Gavin Bayreuther - Dean Kukan
Elvis Merzlikins
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratches: Zac Dalpe (paternity), Kole Sherwood, Gabriel Carlsson, Scott Harrington, Andrew Peeke, Joonas Korpisalo
Taxi squad: Adam Clendening, Daniil Tarasov, Cam Johnson
Injured reserve:Gus Nyquist (shoulder, out 5-6 months as of November), Zach Werenski (sports hernia, out for the season), Emil Bemstrom (lower body, rehabbing with a timetable TBD), Boone Jenner (broken finger, out six weeks as of April 7), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist, LTIR).
Roster report: The only change to the lineup will be Foudy, who was called up Tuesday, going in for Josh Dunne who was sent to the AHL. Korpisalo is out for the season with a lower-body injury.
