PREVIEW: Blue Jackets finish opening homestand vs. Lightning

There wasn’t much chatter at Blue Jackets practice Friday.

Smarting from a 4-1 loss to Colorado on Thursday night, Columbus went through a fast-paced, businesslike 45-minute twirl at Nationwide Arena designed to move the legs and add some competitive spirit to practice.

The Blue Jackets liked their effort and level of play through the first three games, even though two of them were losses, but Thursday’s game didn’t have the spirit that head coach Dean Evason was looking for. That led to a hardworking, purpose-driven day of work on Friday.

“The idea was just to get the compete level up,” Evason said. “We felt the first three games systematically were really good, and all the (analytics) numbers were good. But (Thursday) night, we didn’t like how we competed in that hockey game for whatever reason, so we had a little adjustment this morning and hopefully it’ll be higher tomorrow.”

It’s just four games into the season with 78 to go, so the Blue Jackets aren’t hitting the panic button or anything like that as far as the standings go. But they also know that falling behind the pack in the early going isn’t what they want, and Thursday night’s game was lacking the aggressiveness and energy that Evason and the team pride themselves on.

It’s far too early to describe tonight’s game as a must-win game or a potential turning point, but it is an opportunity for the Blue Jackets to show they can respond to a disappointing effort and nip a losing streak in the bud.

“That’s a fair assessment, yeah,” Olivier said. “You don’t want to let things slip. Overall, three out of the four games we’re pretty happy with – not with the results, but the way we want to play. (Thursday) night wasn’t up to our standards, so you don’t want to let those things slip. Catch it today and reset tomorrow.”

Evason said he expects his team to respond accordingly.

“Absolutely,” Evason said. “We anticipate, know that they will. We’ve got great leadership in there, and we expect to have our best game of the year tomorrow night.”

Prior to the game, the club will recognize original head coach Dave King, along with defenseman Rostislav Klesla, forward Kevin Dineen, goaltender Ron Tugnutt and defenseman Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, all members of the inaugural 2000-01 Blue Jackets.

King and the four players will participate in an autograph session beginning at 6 p.m. on the Nationwide Arena concourse. The alumni will then be recognized in an on-ice ceremony prior to puck drop.

Scratches: Miles Wood (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body)

Injured reserve/Non-Roster: None

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets switched around some lines at Friday’s practice, and Evason said Greaves will get the start in net. Wood and Gudbranson are progressing from their injuries, Evason said, but remain out for tonight.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 18, 2011: Derick Brassard scores the 2,000th goal in CBJ history, tallying in the third period of a 3-2 loss to Dallas. Rick Nash and David Savard notch the assists on the milestone goal.

Oct. 18, 2022: Vladislav Gavrikov scores off a pass from Yegor Chinakhov in overtime and the Blue Jackets take a 4-3 victory over Vancouver in Nationwide Arena. Johnny Gaudreau’s memorable wraparound goal past Spencer Martin tied the score at 3 with 10:33 to go before Gavrikov’s winning tally.

The Numbers Game

Marchenko’s four goals in the first four games tie Sonny Milano (2017-18) for the most in CBJ history to start a season. He also has a three-game point streak (4-1-5). ... CBJ goalie Jet Greaves has posted a .932 save percentage on the season while Elvis Merzlikins is at .920. The team’s overall save percentage of .925 is fourth in the NHL. ... The Blue Jackets have scored at least seven goals in four of the last 16 games going back to last season. ... Marchenko’s hat trick vs. Minnesota last Saturday was the fourth of his career, placing him third in CBJ franchise history behind just Atkinson (six) and Nash (five). ... The Blue Jackets have outscored opponents 8-4 at 5-on-5 thus far. ... Charlie Coyle is three assists shy of 300 in his NHL career, while Monahan is five points from 600 in his career.

Know The Foe: Tampa Bay Lightning

Head coach: John Cooper (14th season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.80 (T-20th) | Scoring defense: 3.60 (23rd)| PP: 23.1 percent (T-8th) | PK: 89.5 percent (10th)

The narrative: The Lightning has remained one of the elite teams in the league, making the playoffs eight consecutive seasons and 11 of the last 12, but last year marked the third straight first-round exit for the 2020 and ‘21 Stanley Cup champs. Many of the squad’s stalwarts are getting a bit long in the tooth – Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy have all passed 30 – but this figures to remain a contender for the near future thanks to a load of talent and the long-established winning culture.

Scoring leaders: The Lightning had four players reach the 80-point mark a season ago, led by Kucherov pacing the entire NHL a season ago for the second straight year with 121 points (37 tallies, 84 assists). Brandon Hagel (35-55-90), Brayden Point (42-40-82) and Jake Guentzel (41-39-80) followed, with Point and Guentzel placing sixth and seventh in the league in goals, respectively. Point (2-3-5) and Guentzel (1-4-5) lead the team in scoring through last night’s OT loss at Detroit, while Hedman has four assists. Kucherov (who missed the game at Detroit because of illness), Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde each have two goals.

In net: Andrei Vasilevskiy finished second in the Vezina Trophy voting a season ago, going 38-20-5 with a 2.18 GAA and .921 save percentage in a league-high 63 starts. He's 0-2-2 thus far but played last night, so the Blue Jackets will likely see Jonas Johansson, who gave up three goals on 33 shots in the team’s lone win Monday at Boston.

What's new: The Bolts didn’t make a ton of changes coming into the season, adding around the edges with the additions of depth pieces Pontus Holmberg, Jakob Pelletier and Boris Katchouk and giving more time to youngsters Gage Goncalves and Maxwell Crozier. Tampa Bay is off to a bit of a slow start with just one win in five games after falling in Detroit, as the Bolts opened with losses to Ottawa and New Jersey, beat Boston and then posted overtime losses to Washington and Detroit.

Trending: The Lightning has had the better of the series, as Columbus is just 6-17-4 since 2018-19. The Blue Jackets won the lone matchup in Nationwide Arena a season ago, a 7-6 final in OT on Nov. 21.

Former CBJ: Oliver Bjorkstrand has landed in Tampa Bay after a deadline deal a season ago, and the now 30-year-old wing has a goal and two assists thus far this season.