PREVIEW: CBJ looking for consistency as Carolina visits

BLUE JACKETS (5-4-3) vs. HURRICANES (6-2-0)

It's a fine line Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has had to tread this year as he attempts to integrate a number of new faces into his forward group. As a result, he's switched line combinations almost from game to game while trying to find the right fit.
The result is, according to MoneyPuck.com, no CBJ forward trio has played more than 40 minutes together at 5-on-5, making Columbus just one of two teams in the league that can say that.
If something felt like it truly was working, he'd stick with it. But 12 games into the season, it remains a continuous battle, even after a 4-3 win over Dallas on Thursday night.
"I would love to settle in on some lines," he said Saturday. "I think that's the proper thing to do to gain some confidence. Although we're beginning to score some goals, I'd still like to be able to feel good on what our four-line situation is but I have not been able to do that."
Part of that is because names like Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic have been added to the mix thanks to an early-season trade, but it's still a frustration for the head coach, who also admits he brings it on himself at times.
There are moments when he preaches patience and others, when the forward groups are struggling to get the puck out of its own zone let alone create consistent offense, where he feels like he has to try something different.
Again, the chicken or the egg, as captain Nick Foligno says he fully understands.
"You'd obviously like to have some cohesiveness with your lines, but that goes with playing well, too," Foligno said. "We need to get better as a group here and allow our lines to stay the same. There's been some games where we've played well, and there's been some inconsistencies.
"As much as Torts likes to jumble his lines, we're trying to find pairs that are going to play the way that we need to play as a group. Until we can get that going, we have to understand there's going to be some moving and shaking."
More changes are in the offing today vs. Carolina, with rookie Liam Foudy set to re-enter the lineup after being sent to the taxi squad for Thursday's game vs. the Stars in place of Mikhail Grigorenko, while defenseman Zach Werenski also will be out with a lower-body injury.
Tortorella said he struggled with the decision to take out Grigorenko but wanted to get Foudy's speed back in the lineup. It came with a caveat, though -- the head coach said he's nearing the point where letting some his players fight their way out of their early-season funks will no longer be an option. Lineup spots will soon be based on current "merit" more than the stats on the back of a hockey card.
"All teams go through it at the beginning of the year," Tortorella said. "You get new players in, you have to give them a chance to get going. You have to, but we're 12 games in. Enough is enough. Especially only playing 56 (games), we're 12 games in, so I'm going to really watch it very closely now, and I need to put the people (in) that really deserve to be in the lineup."
Know the Foe
Coming off back-to-back strong seasons including a run to the Eastern Conference Final two years ago, the Hurricanes are again off to a strong start having won six of the first eight games on the schedule.
The Canes have done it by just being a solid team, especially defensively, as the team's 2.38 goals allowed per game ranks fifth in the NHL. While Carolina is middle of the pack with 3.00 goals per game, 15th overall, the Hurricanes are outshooting teams by an average of 34.3-26.0 per contest. Carolina is also 3-0 in games that have stretched beyond regulation, though the team is coming off a 6-4 loss at Chicago on Thursday.
A pair of talented young forwards have led the offense in Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho. The former, a 20-year-old Russian, is atop the Carolina scoring chart with six goals among his nine points, while Aho is going along at a point-per-game clip (2-6-8). Vincent Trocheck has five goals among his seven points, while Dougie Hamilton is tied for the team lead with six assists from the blue line after returning from a season-ending injury suffered last year vs. Columbus. Nino Niederreiter also has four goals.
Defensively, a mobile defense led by such stalwarts as Hamilton, Jake Gardiner, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Brady Skjei has helped with shot suppression, but Carolina did get a blow recently when goalie Petr Mrazek (0.99 GAA, .955 save percentage) went on injured reserve with a thumb injury. James Reimer is 4-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and .900 save percentage, while Alex Nedeljkovic has been called up to serve as the backup.
Nedeljkovic is a 25-year-old Parma, Ohio, native who has played in six career NHL games. He is just the second goalie born in Ohio to earn an NHL win in league history after Pat Jablonski.
The only former Blue Jacket on the roster is forward Ryan Dzingel, who has two goals in eight games. His former Ohio State teammate, Max McCormick, played in two games with Carolina before going on injured reserve.
3 Keys to the Game
Get to Reimer: "Optimus Reim" hasn't had much luck in his career vs. Columbus, going 2-8-2 with a 3.75 GAA. Can Columbus have his number again if he starts?
Stiffer defensively: Dallas was able to create too many scoring chances in both games of the series. The Blue Jackets are still searching for their defensive game, and Carolina will be another stiff test.
Find consistency: At some point, the Blue Jackets have to get everyone going and let the chips fall where they may, results wise and lineup wise. What better time to start?
Of Note
Oliver Bjorkstrand has a 4-6-10 line in the past 10 games and leads the squad with those 10 points. … Roslovic has a three-game point streak (1-3-4) and scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket on Thursday, while Laine notched his first CBJ goal as well. … Foligno is one goal from 200 in his NHL career (138 with Columbus, 61 with Ottawa). … Seth Jones has 198 points in his Blue Jackets career. … Columbus won all three games in the series last year with Carolina, winning each by one goal. That included a 2-0 record in Nationwide Arena, with wins Oct. 24 (4-3 in overtime) and Jan. 16 (3-2). … The Blue Jackets are 9-5-1 the past four years vs. Carolina, including a 6-2-0 record at home. … The game will be shown live in many European countries as the NHL game of the week. It can be seen in Sweden (VSport Hockey, Viaplay), Finland (VSport Jääkiekko, Elisa Viihde Viaplay), Switzerland and Liechtenstein (Blue Sport), Germany and Austria (SPORT1+, DAZN), Russia (Yandex.Efir), the United Kingdom (FreeSports), Bulgaria (MaxSport), Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia (SportKlub) and Portgual (SPORT.TV5).
Projected Lineup
(Subject to change)
Patrik Laine - Jack Roslovic - Cam Atkinson
Max Domi - Alexandre Texier - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Nick Foligno - Riley Nash - Eric Robinson
Boone Jenner - Mikko Koivu - Liam Foudy
Dean Kukan - Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Michael Del Zotto
Joonas Korpisalo
Cam Johnson
Scratches: Kevin Stenlund, Mikhail Grigorenko, Gabriel Carlsson, Matiss Kivlenieks (lower body, day to day)
Injured reserve: Zach Werenski (lower body, one to two weeks as of Feb. 5), Elvis Merzlikins (upper body, day to day), Gus Nyquist (shoulder, out 5-6 months as of November), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist, LTIR)
Roster Report: Werenski was injured late in the Thursday game vs. Dallas and comes out of the lineup with Harrington likely making his season debut. Foudy also goes into the lineup for Grigorenko after being out against Dallas. Johnson was added on emergency recall Sunday after Kivlenieks proved unable to play with his injury.