Blue Jackets at Flames preview

BLUE JACKETS (32-21-14) at FLAMES (34-26-7)
8:30 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNW, FS-O, NHL.TV

The Blue Jackets, 2-5-5 in their past 12 games after going 9-0-1 in their previous 10, are tied with the New York Islanders for the first wild card in the East and fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, four points behind the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flames, 3-1-1 in their past five games and 7-4-1 in their past 12, are in third place in the Pacific Division, five points behind the second-place Edmonton Oilers and one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past six games.
Flames center Mikael Backlund has 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in his past 13 games.

They said it

"The biggest thing for us is our energy. That's what we're trying to stress, is trying to free them up so they're allowed to play with some energy." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"You've got to take it game by game, day by day right now. We're in a fight right now. We're trying to be in a playoff spot for the rest of the year. That's our goal going forward." -- Flames center Sean Monahan

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Nick Foligno
Alexander Wennberg -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Emil Bemstrom
Kevin Stenlund -- Riley Nash -- Eric Robinson
Jakob Lilja -- Devin Shore -- Stefan Matteau
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Ryan Murray -- Zach Werenski
Scott Harrington -- Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Ryan MacInnis, Gabriel Carlsson, Markus Nutivaara, Matiss Kivlenieks
Injured:Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Alexandre Texier (back), Dean Kukan (knee), Seth Jones (ankle), Cam Atkinson (ankle), Oliver Bjorkstrand (ankle), Nathan Gerbe (groin)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mikael Backlund -- Matthew Tkachuk
Milan Lucic -- Derek Ryan -- Dillon Dube
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Tobias Rieder
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
Derek Forbort -- Erik Gustafsson
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
Scratched: Zac Rinaldo, Oliver Kylington, Michael Stone
Injured: Travis Hamonic (upper body)

Status report

The Blue Jackets did not hold a morning skate Wednesday. … Merzlikins could dress for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury in a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 24. … Bjorkstrand, a forward, had ankle surgery Tuesday and the forward is expected to miss 8-10 weeks.

Stat pack

Wennberg is one point shy of 200 in the NHL. … Gaudreau has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games.