PREVIEW: Jackets kick off road trip at Oilers

When the Blue Jackets faced Winnipeg on Jan. 9, the Jets entered on a six-game winning streak and 12-game point streak. Four days later, Seattle came to town on an eight-game winning streak and 12-game point streak of their own, and Jan. 15 brought NHL-leading Vancouver to town.

And yet, the best is still to come, as far as facing the hottest team in the league. Tonight, the Blue Jackets face an Edmonton team that has won 13 games in a row for the first time in franchise history, with the NHL record of 17 straight wins in sight.

How’s that for a tough stretch in the schedule? Yet head coach Pascal Vincent, a better man than us, isn’t complaining.

“So be it,” Vincent said. “We won against Vancouver. That was probably one of our best games of the year. It’s hard. It’s the NHL. They’re all good teams. It’s the best league in the world, so we’re going to face those teams, we’re going to focus on the process like we always do, stay in the moment and see what’s going to happen.”

The Blue Jackets had a fast-paced practice Monday upon arrival and Edmonton and appeared to be in good spirits, and the energy level will be worth monitoring as the team kicks off a five-game road trip tonight against the Oilers.

Heading into the All-Star break, Columbus will play five times in eight days, but the belief in hockey is that this is the type of thing that can bring a team together.

“I think we need to get away a little bit, get tighter,” Vincent said. “There’s some team activities planned for the guys that they organized. It’s creating that bond between the players. We’re going to play against some good teams … but I think it’s gonna be good for us to keep going as a team.”

Columbus will hope to produce a better result than the last time out, a 4-1 loss Friday night against New Jersey on home ice. After a solid start, the Jackets gave up four goals in the second period, and Vincent wanted his team to get back to basics postgame.

“It’s the game within the game,” he said. “You don’t win your one-on-one battles, you don’t win hockey games at any level.”

Know The Foe: Edmonton Oilers

Head coach: Kris Knoblauch (first season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.50 (4th) | Scoring defense: 2.90 (12th) | PP: 25.4 percent (6th) | PK: 82.2 percent (9th)

The narrative: Is this finally the Oilers year? Despite having two of the top offensive players in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the team hasn’t been able to get over the hump, making four straight playoff appearances but falling short of the Stanley Cup Final each time. One might say the squad is the Cup favorite right now, though, as Edmonton has been one of the best teams in the league since replacing head coach Jay Woodcroft with Knoblauch in November.

Team leaders: Now 27 and in his ninth NHL season, McDavid leads the Oilers, though his 16-43-59 line has him just ninth in the NHL and pacing well short of last year’s 153-point campaign. He’s still one of the league’s best, of course, and Draisaitl isn’t far behind, placing 16th in the league with 50 points on 22 goals and 28 assists. Zach Hyman’s 28 goals lead the team and are tied fourth in the NHL, while Evan Bouchard is tied for second among NHL defensemen with 11 goals and fifth in points with 42.

Goaltending has always been one of the biggest reasons why the Oilers haven’t been able to reach the promised land in the McDavid era, but Stuart Skinner is having a solid season with a 21-9-1 record, 2.53 GAA and .906 save percentage. After a tough start, he’s won 10 straight games, giving up just 15 goals in that span and racking up a .947 save percentage.

What's new: As we noted earlier, the Blue Jackets will again face one of the hottest teams in the league as Edmonton has outscored teams 50-22 during its 13-game winning streak. In all, the squad has a 23-6-0 record since Knoblauch became the head coach, and the Oilers are healthy at the moment and certainly humming on all cylinders. Team leaders during the 13-game win streak include McDavid (5-13-18), Draisaitl (9-7-16), Hyman (10-5-15) and Warren Foegele (5-8-13).

Trending: The teams meet tonight for the first time this season after the Blue Jackets swept last year’s season series, winning Jan. 25 in Edmonton on Kent Johnson’s overtime goal and then capturing a 6-5 final exactly one month later in Nationwide Arena.

Former CBJ: Sam Gagner just keeps on going, as the 34-year-old has played in 20 games this season and has five goals and five assists.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Cole Sillinger – Yegor Chinakhov
Adam Fantilli – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Kent Johnson – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
Damon Severson – Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov – Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratches: Mathieu Olivier, Emil Bemstrom, David Jiricek

Injured reserve: Zach Werenski (ankle, out four to six weeks as of Dec. 27); Patrik Laine (fractured clavicle, out six weeks as of Dec. 15)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets are making no changes to the lineup from Friday's game vs. New Jersey. On the injury front, Nick Blankenburg (upper body) was activated and sent to Cleveland on Sunday, while both Werenski and Laine have traveled with the team and are practicing ahead of anticipated returns.

3 Stats to Know

• Cole Sillinger has been one of the hottest players on the team, posting a 7-2-9 line and a plus-5 rating in the last 13 games.
• This game begins the first of two five-game road trips for the Jackets this year. Columbus will play in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle and St. Louis on this trip, and a March 19-28 road swing includes stops to play Detroit, Colorado, Vegas, Arizona and Pittsburgh. The team record for points on a five-game road swing is eight (Feb. 8-17, 2022), and twice the team has beaten all three Western Canada teams on a trip (March 18-21, 2015, and Dec. 13-18, 2016).
• Milestone watch: Forward Justin Danforth is four games from 100 in his NHL career (21-14-35, 96 games played).

Who’s Hot

Dmitri Voronkov is tied for fourth among NHL rookies in tallies with nine, and his 22 points are tied for sixth among NHL rookies as well. ... Johnny Gaudreau has a 3-11-14 line in the last 15 games. ... Yegor Chinakhov has registered 8-6-14 over the last 17 games. ... Rookie Adam Fantilli is fourth among NHL rookies in points (25) and placed third in goals (11). ... Adam Boqvist has four assists in five games since returning to the lineup. ... The team’s rookie stat line of 21-35-56 is tied for first in the NHL in goals and is second in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 23, 2021: In a blockbuster trade, the Blue Jackets acquire Patrik Laine and Columbus native Jack Roslovic from Winnipeg in a deal that sends Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Jets.

Jan. 23, 2023: Johnny Gaudreau makes his return to Calgary, playing his first game against the Flames after signing with the Blue Jackets in the offseason. He cannot convert on a penalty shot during the game, and the Blue Jackets drop a 4-3 decision in overtime in Dillon Dube’s goal.