CBJ Today: Jackets getting energy from physical forward group

Each weekday this season, BlueJackets.com will post CBJ Today, a look at news, notes, analysis and fun stuff from around the Blue Jackets world. It's everything you need to know if you're a fan going into the day.

Energy Line

When Ryan MacInnis stepped on the ice Thursday in Carolina, he hadn't played an NHL game since March 1 of last year. Stefan Matteau had just one contest under his belt this year.
But a conversion of factors -- injuries and illness, mostly -- led to those two forwards being slotted into the CBJ lineup, and so far the impact has been pretty noticeable.
Paired with another big body in Eric Robinson, that trio has given Carolina fits over the last three games, creating a hard-charging forechecking line that hasn't scored but has played in key minutes and given the rest of the CBJ team some inspiration.
"I thought that was a very important line for us," head coach John Tortorella said before Monday's CBJ game after MacInnis, Matteau and Robinson helped the team to a pair of wins in Carolina.
"Anytime our fourth line is playing well and doing a good job out there and bringing energy and all that, it's one of those things you can feed off," Oliver Bjorkstrand added.
It's a bit reminiscent of a season ago when the Blue Jackets, again because of injuries, had to go down the depth chart and turn to players who had spent most of last year in Cleveland. MacInnis, Matteau and Nathan Gerbe were among those guys, stepping onto the ice and providing a jolt that was a big part of the team's second-half run a year ago.
At times, that happens in a season, where guys who aren't necessarily the top players on the squad have to step up and do their job when called upon. And there's no doubt it's brought the Blue Jackets some energy.
For Matteau, the 27-year-old's nine games a year ago were his first since dressing eight times in 2017-18 with Vegas. The 25-year-old MacInnis, meanwhile, made his NHL debut with 10 games a year ago. Both the sons of former NHL standouts and good friends, the two have been labeled as energy guys at the top level in their careers, but they hope to bring whatever they can to the CBJ squad when asked to do so.
"I do my job, it makes him look good," Matteau said. "He does his job, it makes me look good. We're going to try to continue to work together and make it as easy as possible for each other."
"It feels good that they have confidence in us," MacInnis added. "We're all big bodies and we can move the puck down low in the offensive zone, so that definitely helps us out a lot."

Prospects Updates

We'll have a full Prospects Report coming up here at some point in the near future, but here are a few bullet points from the last few days while I was away.
- Over in Russia, 20-year-old forward Yegor Chinakhov, the CBJ's first-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft, has a pair of goals in Avangard Omsk's series vs. Metallurg, with Avangard up 2-1 in the conference semifinal matchup. 2018 second-round pick Kirill Marchenko also had a huge goal late in SKA St. Petersburg's 1-0 win over Dynamo Moscow on Saturday -- SKA is up 2-1 in that series -- while 2019 fourth-round pick Dmitri Voronkov also has a goal in Ak Bars Kazan's second-round series vs. Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Ak Bars is up 3-0 in the series, which means Salavat Yulaev goalie Daniil Tarasov -- a 2017 third-round pick -- could be bound for AHL Cleveland soon. - Speaking of the Monsters, there were some big debuts in Saturday's 5-2 loss to Grand Rapids. Recent signee Josh Dunne and 2020 fifth-round pick Ole Bjorgvik-Holm each made their AHL debuts, with Dunne signing after the end of Clarkson's season and Bjorgvik-Holm coming stateside after playing in his native Norway this year. Cleveland also got Kole Sherwood and Liam Foudy back from injury, though defenseman Andrew Peeke and goalie Matiss Kivlenieks did not play. - And in college hockey, two of the three Jackets prospects at that level made the NCAA tournament. Defenseman Robbie Stucker (2017 seventh-round pick) and Minnesota got a No. 1 seed in the 16-team event, while goalie Peter Thome (2016 sixth-round pick) is on a North Dakota team that earned the No. 1 overall seed. The Golden Gophers will take on Omaha on Saturday, while the Fighting Hawks take on American International on Friday. Kale Howarth (a 2017 fifth-round pick) and UConn did not make the tournament, so Howarth's season ends with a 5-2-7 line in 18 games.