SETTING THE STAGE: The Boston Bruins can say they've done something only one other NHL team has done this season. They've beaten the Blue Jackets in regulation - twice (San Jose is the other).
You'll remember opening night at Nationwide Arena when the Blue Jackets raced out to a 2-0 lead and had the building roaring at an ear-splitting volume. The enthusiasm dissipated in the third period when Boston took the game over, and in early November, the Bruins chased Sergei Bobrovsky with four goals in the first period at TD Garden.
Tuesday's game is the third and final meeting of the season between the Blue Jackets and Bruins, and the latter has already proven itself as a tough match for the former. Columbus went into the Christmas break on quite the high, winning its 12th straight game, holding off the Montreal Canadiens by a 2-1 final in a game largely decided by Bobrovsky's tremendous 36-save performance. As the NHL restarts following a three-day holiday respite, the Blue Jackets are the NHL's top team at 23-5-4 with 50 points - a number no other team has been able to match so far, and the Blue Jackets have done it in only 32 games.
Much like the week before, this coming week is a big one for the Blue Jackets, who close out 2016 with three games between now and the weekend, including two on the road to finish the week. After facing the Bruins, Columbus heads west to play Winnipeg on Thursday and then a date with red-hot Minnesota (who entered the break on a 10-game winning streak) on Saturday night in St. Paul.
NOTEWORTHY NEWS: Bobrovsky had the night off last Tuesday (Curtis McElhinney made 44 saves in a shootout win over Los Angeles) and then played back-to-back nights against Pittsburgh and Montreal. He leads the NHL with 21 wins and is unbeaten in the month of December; the Blue Jackets will hold a game day skate Tuesday and are not expected to make any lineup changes prior to the game against Boston.
PROJECTED CBJ LINEUP:
Saad - Wennberg - Foligno
Jenner - Dubinsky - Atkinson
Calvert - Karlsson - Anderson
Hartnell - Sedlak - Gagner
Werenski - Jones
Johnson - Savard
Murray - Nutivaara
Bobrovsky
