PREVIEW: Blue Jackets, Penguins to renew Metro rivalry

When Rick Bowness was hired as head coach of the Blue Jackets, he said he took the job because he felt he could help the team.

He also believed he could win with the squad. Two games in, he’s been proven right.

Columbus has won both games with Bowness behind the bench, first a topsy-turvy 5-3 victory against Calgary on Tuesday followed by a workmanlike 4-1 victory against Vancouver on Thursday night.

After the latter triumph, Bowness echoed a message he’s said a few times since he took over the squad.

“I want these guys to start to understand, we have a good team here, and we do,” Bowness said. “And we have to keep going. That’s what we’re gonna do.”

For a CBJ team that has gone through a frustrating season to this point and is trying to work its way up the Eastern Conference standings, that message has been good to hear. While the Blue Jackets still have work to do, they have emerged from the cellar in the East and can get within three points of a Pittsburgh team that is tied for third in the Metropolitan Division with a win tonight.

In a sport where confidence can make a ton of difference in the way a team plays, the Blue Jackets acknowledge that self-belief goes a long way, which has helped Bowness’ message sink in.

“To have a new voice come in and say that and give reminders, sometimes when you’re in it, it’s like you get too in tune to just being in here, you kind of forget,” Coyle said. “You get an outside perspective (that says), ‘I’ve watched it. I’ve seen it. Now I’m in here, and it’s here.’ Just for another voice to come in and say that and give us some confidence and up that belief factor a little bit, it’s huge.”

When Bowness took over the team, his message to the squad was that it had to become better at preventing goals and chances, with the new coach going as far as to write where the team ranked in the NHL in multiple defensive categories on the locker room white board as a way to let it sink in. So far, through his Bowness’ first two games, the Blue Jackets have allowed four goals – all on the power play – and the new boss sees positive signs in the squad’s defensive play.

“We haven’t given up a 5-on-5 goal,” Bowness said. “Some of that is some big saves at the right time, which certainly Elvis (Merzlikins) did (Friday) night because I didn’t like some of those chances we gave up in the first period at all. We addressed that, but after that we played solid. We’re gonna give up chances. The other team is pretty good too. They want to win, so give the other team credit a lot of times.

“But if we can keep the chances down to workable numbers, there’s enough offense on this team. I want them to keep the puck. I want them to make plays. I want them to be creative and just recognize when you can and when you cannot do those things is a big part of playing good defense.”

Scratches: Zach Aston-Reese, Denton Mateychuk (upper body injury), Egor Zamula

Injured Reserve: F Mason Marchment (upper body injury, week to week); F Miles Wood (lower body injury, week to week); F Isac Lundeström (lower body injury, week to week); D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets used similar lines in practice Friday as they did in Thursday night’s win, so there may not be any changes for this game against the Pens.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 17, 2008: Rick Nash scores one of the most dynamic goals in NHL history as he beats a pair of Phoenix defensemen and goaltender Mikael Tellqvist with 21.5 seconds left in regulation to lift Columbus to a 4-3 win. Nash’s tally likely remains the most famous goal in team history.

Jan. 17, 2015: Ryan Johansen notches a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win at Boston, extending his franchise-record point streak to its 13th and final game. Johansen has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points during the run.

The Numbers Game

Zach Werenski has points in 12 of the last 13 games (9-12-21) as well as 23 of the last 27 (14-26-40) and has scored nine times in the last 11 games. He is first among NHL defensemen in goals (18), second in points (51), second in average ice time (26:36) and is first in multipoint games (17). ... Kirill Marchenko has points in 10 of the last 12 games (7-7-14). ... Set to play in his 998th career game, Charlie Coyle has a three-game goal streak with four tallies in that span. He has 15 shots on goal in the last two games and is one shy of tying a career-best goal streak. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 37 goals this season, the most in the NHL. … Boone Jenner became the fourth player in CBJ history to reach the 200-assist mark after Werenski (304), Rick Nash (258) and David Vyborny (204) with a helper in the win over Vancouver. ... Pittsburgh has allowed just three power-play goals in the last 12 games (91.4 percent on PK) while Columbus is 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) on the power play in the last three.

Know The Foe: Pittsburgh Penguins

Head coach: Dan Muse (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.17 (14th) | Scoring defense: 2.91 (10th) | PP: 29.4 percent (2nd) | PK: 83.2 percent (6th)

The narrative: The season began with talk that the Penguins – after missing the postseason three straight seasons – were fully embracing a rebuild this season, with longtime head coach Mike Sullivan off to New York and such veterans as Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson on the theoretical trading block. But before you could say Gavin McKenna, the Penguins got off to a red-hot start to the season under Muse, starting 8-2-2. An eight-game losing streak in December brought Pittsburgh back down to earth a bit, but the Pens remain tied for third in the Metro coming into the game.

Scoring leaders: Sidney Crosby has long been an NHL legend – he's up to eighth all-time in points with 1,738 after recently passing Mario Lemieux – and he hasn’t slowed down at all, tying for fifth in the NHL this season at age 38 with 25 goals among his 51 points. Rust follows with a 17-20-37 line while Evgeni Malkin has topped a point per game (10-24-34 in 31 contests) and recently returned from injury. Karlsson leads Pens defensemen with 33 points, including 29 assists, but was recently placed on injured reserve, while Anthony Mantha has 14 goals.

In net: Latvian Olympian Arturs Silovs has started a team-best 21 games, going 8-6-7 with a 3.06 GAA and a .890 save percentage. Pittsburgh swapped goalies with Edmonton in mid-December, sending Tristan Jarry to the Oilers for Stuart Skinner, who is 4-4-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .901 save percentage in eight games in black and gold.

What's new: It’s been a wild ride for the Pens, who started 14-7-5, then lost eight in a row before seven wins in the next eight games. Pittsburgh followed that with a three-game losing skid that it snapped Thursday with a 6-3 win over the rival Flyers. Injuries and trades – including the goalie deal and the recent acquisition of CBJ forward Egor Chinakhov – have led the Pens to dress an astronomical 38 players thus far, though Karlsson remains the biggest piece of the puzzle who is out.

Trending: All three games in the series this year have gone to overtime, with the Blue Jackets losing two-goal leads in the third period of all of them. Columbus won the first showdown this year in the Steel City by a 5-4 score but lost the two OT games in Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets famously went almost a decade without a win in Pittsburgh but have won two of the last three.

Former CBJ: Chinakhov has played eight games with the Pens since being traded Dec. 29, posting three goals and an assist.