Columbus Activates Murray Off IR as They Take On the Pittsburgh Penguins

Columbus takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the third time this season. The final matchup will be at Nationwide Arena April 5.

In the last two meetings, Columbus lost both times in the shootout. It'll be a hard-fought battle tonight against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Last season, Pittsburgh nearly swept the playoff run against the Jackets. Columbus was able to win one game against them before ultimately being eliminated in the first round. That was the last time these two teams had met at Nationwide Arena, and let's just say it left a pretty bad taste in the Jackets' mouths.

In their last 10 games, Pittsburgh is 8-1-1. The Penguins are also a measly one point behind the top Metro team, the Washington Capitals. The Capitals had a tough loss against the Blackhawks, 1-7 while Pittsburgh, on the other hand, beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3.

In their last game, Columbus lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in OT. They were able to tie up the game late in the third with a goal from Cam Atkinson, but 1:52 into overtime, Philadelphia's Couturier was able to snatch the game winner. Columbus is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games. Not exactly a stellar record, but Tortorella is still hopeful.

"You have to do it as a group, but you find out [about] the individuals within that group and how they respond to these types of situations," he said. "I can't wait. This is what you are as an athlete. We talk about mental toughness, handling situations, [resilience] … we're going to have it every night for the rest of the year here. I'm anxious to see how some guys handle it."

The Blue Jackets are in fight mode as they sit just outside of the Metro's wild card spot. They are currently tied with Carolina with 63 points and trail the Islanders, who hold the second wild card position, by a single point. It's do or die for this young team with these final games coming up.

Evgeni Malkin has been having an outstanding season especially as of late. He's got 17 points in the last 10 games, and has scored goals in the last two games. Kris Letang is also having a great season as a defenseman and has six points the past eight games. He's also had goals in the past two games.

On the other hand, Sergei Bobrovsky has had some excellent starts. He's allowed only a single goal in regulation in his last three starts and boasts a .956 save percentage. In those three games, he's faced 90 shots and was able to stop 86 of them.

While the entire team of Pittsburgh is dirty -er- uncouth, Ryan Reaves is still playing his role of Sidney Crosby's bodyguard. Averaging 7 minutes a game, this guy is nothing more than a goon who's ready to fight at the drop of a hat. He's scored 4 goals this season two of which came in Pittsburgh's last five games. I don't necessarily see him as an offensive threat, but Columbus can't forget about him completely. They have to be on their tippy toes against this team and take every player seriously, even if the player is only good for his fists.

The entire team, hell the entire city of Columbus is always ready to fight Pittsburgh, but one player in particular has a special place in his heart for the team's captain, Sidney Crosby. Brandon Dubinsky positively despises the Penguins, but he especially can't stand their captain. The rivalry has been long-running and it's been rife with dirty hits, filthy cross-checks, and even suspensions. Nevertheless, Dubi can't afford to take another big hit in a fight.

After what seemed like a successful recovery from his broken orbital bone, Dubi had to revisit the doctor because he was having issues with his eyesight. Come to find out, the break has hindered his eyesight some, and if he takes another sucker punch to the face like in that fateful fight, he could possibly lose his vision. Luckily, there are plenty of other guys who would be more than willing to step up to the plate and fight on Brandon's behalf. Seth Jones is a player that comes to mind after he got into a fight with Crosby in their previous matchup. The young defenseman was fed up with Sid's dirty style of play and threw down the gloves. I guarantee Dubi bought the boy a drink afterwards.

Speaking of injuries, the Jackets have finally activated defenseman Ryan Murray off of Injured Reserve. They've loaned him to the Cleveland Monsters on conditioning terms as part of his recovery. He is expected to play with them today in a game against Chicago. Murray has missed 34 games since the injury and it's been a long road to recovery for the young defenseman.

CBJ Projected Lineup

Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Josh Anderson

Oliver Bjorkstrand - Alexander Wennberg - Nick Foligno

Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson

Matt Calvert - Lukas Sedlak - Jussi Jokinen

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Jack Johnson - Scott Harrington

Dean Kukan - David Savard

Sergei Bobrovsky

Markus Nutivaara missed practice Saturday. He left the game against the Flyers prior to overtime. He has an upper-body injury, and Tortorella says the kid is pretty banged up. Scott Harrington will take his place with Jack Johnson in the lineup.

PIT Projected Lineup

Zach Aston-Reese - Sidney Crospby - Conor Sheary

Carl Haglin - Evgeni Malkin - Bryan Rust

Jake Guentzel - Riley Sheahan - Phil Kessel

Dominik Simon - Carter Rowney - Ryan Reaves

Brian Dumoulin - Kris Letang

Olli Maatta - Justin Schultz

Ian Cole - Jamie Oleksiak

Matt Murray

Patric Hornqvist will sit out tonight with a lower-body injury. He's been out since February 2, but has been seen on the ice.