There Was A Firefight!

The Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Calgary Flames tonight in the finale of the two-game series. In their last matchup, Columbus beat the Flames 1-0 in overtime with a goal from Josh Anderson.

In that game, Columbus almost doubled Calgary's shots on goal, 41-22, but neither team was able to score in regulation. After a full 60 minutes without a goal, it was forced into overtime. Josh Anderson scored two minutes in for his eighth goal of the season.

Calgary hasn't played since Monday where they lost to the LA Kings 0-3. The loss marked their sixth straight defeat in 10 games. In that stretch, they went 3-10. This season has been rough for the Canadian team; in the 2016-2017 season they went 45-33-4, and this season they are 35-32-10.

The Flames have 80 points, and they trail the Dallas Stars who have 86 points. Anaheim, who currently holds the second wildcard spot for the Pacific Division, have 91 points.

Conversely, Columbus has been having a pretty great month. They've played 14 games so far and have won 11 of them. They finally broke the 10 game win streak when they lost to the St. Louis Blues on the 24th. However, the next game was beyond stellar.

To kick off their Canadian road trip, the Jackets played against the Edmonton Oilers. The previous meeting left a bad taste in Columbus' mouth as the Oilers had beaten them 7-2. No worries, though, since Columbus got their revenge.

By all means, it looked like Edmonton was going to win after they scored three unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes. My Oilers friend was positively pickled, but at 12:39, it was my time to celebrate.

Thomas Vanek scored his 22nd of the season, and then less than a minute later, Panarin scored his 26th goal. Before the period was out, Vanek had tied the game with another goal of his own. Columbus went on to score four more unanswered goals including a hat trick from Vanek. Let's just say my friend was not a happy camper.

Despite Calgary's unfortunate record, Columbus can't let their guard down. They've moved back into the first wildcard spot after Philadelphia was able to surpass them. The Jackets have 91 points, and have a cushy 3 point lead over the New Jersey Devils who have 88 points. If Columbus can win tonight, they can pass the Flyers again by a point.

In other news, Josh Anderson has been seen on the ice, and even skated this morning. It's still unknown when he will be back, but he is making progress. Additionally, the Blue Jackets just signed defenseman Markus Nutivaara to a four-year contract extension.

Columbus Projected Lineup

Artemi Panarin* - Pierre-Luc Dubois- Cam Atkinson

Boone Jenner - Alexander Wennberg - Thomas Vanek

Sonny Milano -Brandon Dubinsky - Oliver Bjorkstrand

Matt Calvert - Mark Letestu - Markus Hannikainen

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Ian Cole - David Savard

Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara

Sergei Bobrovsky

*With the absence of Captain Nick Foligno, Panarin will also be wearing an A.

Calgary Projected Lineup*

Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Troy Brouwer

Michael Frolik - Mark Jankowski - Chris Stewart

Michael Ferland - Nick Shone - Curtis Lazar

Tanner Glass - Matt Stajan - Garnet Hathaway

Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton

Michael Stone - Travis Hamonic

Brett Kulak - Rasmus Andersson

Jon Gillies

*Calgary has been plagued by injuries and have also lost their leading goal scorer, Johnny Gaudreau, for personal reasons.