Preview: Jackets hit the road for two, starting with finale vs Hurricanes

GAME 33: BLUE JACKETS (20-11-1) AT HURRICANES (12-11-7)
PNC ARENA, 7 P.M., TUESDAY
TV: FOX SPORTS OHIO/FOX SPORTS GO
RADIO: CD102.5 FM & BLUEJACKETS.COM
The Blue Jackets began a stretch of nine straight games against Eastern Conference opponents with a 6-4 victory against the New York Islanders on Thursday at Nationwide Arena.
That includes four more games against Metropolitan Division teams, starting with the Hurricanes, who won the last two games of a six-game road trip that ended Friday in Buffalo. Carolina edged the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3, in overtime on a goal by Jaccob Slavin to go 2-2-2 on the trip.
Despite losing veteran center Brandon Dubinsky for an estimated 6-to-8 weeks with an orbital bone fracture Tuesday, Columbus is looking to win its second straight game and keep pace in the tightly-contested Metro.
The Jackets are 11-4-0 since Nov. 11, which is tied with the Nashville Predators for the NHL's second-most wins, and they're 7-4-0 against Metro teams.
This is the first road trip of more than one game for Columbus since Nov. 11-14 against the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens, and those games were divided by a stint back home before the second game. The Blue Jackets haven't stayed on the road for more than one game at a time since Nov. 2-6, when they played the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers.

SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (2-1-0). This is the finale of the four-game season series.
All-time: 16-14-0-3 overall; 8-7-0-2 at PNC Arena
SERIES SNAPSHOT
First game: The Blue Jackets won, 2-1, in overtime at PNC Arena, with both goals coming off the stick of rookie forward Sonny Milano. He scored the game's first goal at 10:01 of the third period, and then scored with 31 seconds left in OT to give Columbus the second point. Bobrovsky was outstanding in net, making 37 saves.
Second game:Exactly one month after the series-opener, the Hurricanes won, 3-1, at Nationwide Arena in another low-scoring, tight-checking contest. Brandon Dubinsky opened the scoring just 5:35 into the game, but that was the lone goal the Blue Jackets could muster. Jordan Staal scored two goals to lead the Hurricanes, who got 25 saves from Cam Ward. Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the Blue Jackets in his first of six/seven straight starts.
Third game:The Blue Jackets won 3-2 in a shootout, after losing leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on Nov. 28 at Nationwide Arena. Brock McGinn tied it, 2-2, midway through the third period for the Hurricanes, which sent the game to overtime. It went to a shootout, and Columbus won on goals by Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin, who beat his former Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Scott Darling, to put Columbus up 2-0 in the second round.
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets:Oliver Bjorkstrand set new NHL career highs for assists and points in a single game with three assists Thursday against the Islanders. Artemi Panarin had two more assists, and has eight points, all assists, in the Blue Jackets' past four games.
Hurricanes: Victor Rask has three goals in the past five games, Jeff Skinner has two goals and five points in the past seven game and Slavin (goal and assist) was one of six Carolina players with two points in the win against Buffalo.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE HURRICANES
QUOTABLES
Blue Jackets
"Center's a different game, kind of. You're in the play more, you've got a little bit more responsibility down low in the [defensive] zone and in draws, and stuff like that. So, I'm going to take pride in that, and try to do that to the best of my ability." - Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner, on filling in at center for Brandon Dubinsky.
"We're going to keep it there, but I'm never going to lock myself in, and say we've got an answer because you never have an answer in this game. With some of the injuries that we have, we have to make some adjustments along the way." - Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella on keeping Jenner at center.
Hurricanes
"Just a resilient effort from us. We battled through some sluggishness in the first 40 minutes coming off the jet lag, travel, long road trip, all the excuses in the book, but we were able to rally together and get it done." - Hurricanes center Derek Ryan
"We've been on the road for 13 days? Wow. Let's get home then. Let's get home and suck it up. It's the way it is in the National Hockey League." -- Carolina coach Bill Peters
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUE JACKETS
Forward lines
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert - Boone Jenner - Nick Foligno
Cam Atkinson - Alex Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Tyler Motte - Lukas Sedlak - Jordan Schroeder
Defense pairings
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Others:Markus Hannikainen
Injured reserve:Ryan Murray (upper body), Brandon Dubinsky (fractured orbital bone)
HURRICANES
Forward lines
Sebastian Aho - Victor Rask - Teuvo Teravainen
Jeff Skinner - Jordan Staal - Justin Williams
Brock McGinn - Derek Ryan- Elias Lindholm
Joakim Nordstrom - Marcus Kruger - Josh Jooris
Defense pairings
Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury - Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
Scott Darling
Cam Ward
Others: Klas Dahlbeck, Phillip Di Giuseppe
Injured reserve: Lee Stempniak (upper body)