Jackets Take on the Edmonton Oilers After Loss to St. Louis

The Blue Jackets, who have been off since Saturday night when they played the St. Louis Blues, play the Oilers tonight. 

Columbus lost to the Blues 2-1 in a rather unexciting game. The boys in blue were unable to light a fire and maintain their ten game winning streak. 

The Jackets outshot the Blues the majority of the game and the final tally even favored Columbus 34-28. However, it wasn't enough to clinch the win. Alexander Steen drew first blood for St. Louis only three minutes in. Columbus came back and tied it up with a goal of their own, but the goal was eventually waved off as it was deemed the puck was kicked in. 

There wasn't another goal until about halfway through the second period when Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 29th of the season. This time Columbus actually did respond to the goal with a point from Cam Atkinson five minutes later. Sadly, it wasn't enough, and Columbus lost the game 2-1.

Riding a ten game win streak, the Jackets were a force to be reckoned with. Nevertheless, the players weren't focused on the numbers. They just wanted to keep the momentum going to secure their playoff spot. It was an important game for both teams; Columbus wanted to hold on to their 3rd place spot in the Metro, and the Blues are just outside of a playoff position. 

Despite the loss, Columbus still occupies third place, but they're tied with the Flyers now. And although the win didn't catapult the Blues into a wildcard spot, they now only trail the Colorado Avalanche by a single point. 

Coming back from a short break, the Blue Jackets now take on the Edmonton Oilers. This is the second and final time these two teams will meet. Columbus can tie the series if they win tonight; Edmonton having won their previous matchup 7-2 on December 12. 

Edmonton hasn't played since Sunday when they took on the Anaheim Ducks. Though the first period was monotonous, the second was rife with action. Connor McDavid scored first under two minutes in. However, 19 seconds after him, Josh Manson tied the game for Anaheim. The next two goals were from Edmonton's Ty Rattie and Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl ended the second period on a good note for the Canadian team, but the third period brought trouble.

Anaheim scored two back-to-back goals of their own from Adam Henrique and Corey Perry. Perry's goal tied the game, but then Ethan Bear scored his debut goal for the Oilers, and things were looking up. Regardless, Henrique scored with less than two minutes left into the period and forced the game into overtime. The Ducks worked quickly and beat the Oilers in overtime with a goal from Hampus Lindholm 1:21 in. 

The Oilers are out of the playoff running, but they still hope to get their 8th victory out of 12 games. They are 7-2-2 in their last 11. For Mark Letestu, it’ll be an interesting experience. 

"It'll be unique for me that I know everybody on the other team. That's another first experience for me, I've never been traded in-season and come back and played that team. But once the game starts, hopefully that kind of stuff goes away and it becomes easy ." 

Captain Nick Foligno sustained a lower-body injury Saturday night against the Blues and will miss 2-4 weeks. In his place, the club has pulled up Alex Broadhurst, though he will not be in the lineup tonight. Instead, Markus Hannikainen will be playing. 

Blue Jackets Projected Lineup 

Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Cam Atkinson Boone Jenner — Alexander Wennberg — Thomas Vanek Sonny Milano — Brandon Dubinsky — Oliver Bjorkstrand Markus Hannikainen — Mark Letestu — Matt Calvert Zach Werenski — Seth Jones Ian Cole — David Savard Ryan Murray — Markus Nutivaara Sergei Bobrovsky 

Edmonton Oilers Projected Lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Ty Rattie Drake Caggiula — Leon Draisaitl — Pontus Aberg Milan Lucic — Ryan Strome — Jesse Puljujarvi Anton Slepyshev — Jujhar Khaira — Zack Kassian Darnell Nurse — Adam Larsson Kris Russell — Ethan Bear Andrej Sekera — Matt Benning Cam Talbot