Hockey is Back, Baby!

Preseason has finally ended, and it’s time to get serious. For the first game of the 2018-2019 season, Columbus will battle the Detroit Red Wings.

Starting off the fight, Joonas Korpisalo will mind the net, and Sergei Bobrovsky will start during the home opener against Carolina on Friday. Head coach John Tortorella, who was recently signed to a contract extension, feels that Korpisalo deserves a chance after the young goalie had a good camp.

The team, and the entirety of Columbus for that matter, is ready to get this season going. However, the new season is already starting with a key injury.

Defenseman Seth Jones sustained a knee injury at the end of September that will see him out of action for 4-6 weeks. Though an unfortunate set of circumstances, the two-time All Star player has one thing to look forward to: he was named an alternate captain.

It was recently announced that in addition to Alternate Captain Boone Jenner and Captain Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones would also be alternate captains. Though Foligno has plenty of fight left in him, it's speculated that Jones could be the future leader of the Jackets organization.

Without one of their top defensemen, however, Adam Clendening could see some action tonight.

During the offseason, Clendening signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent from the Chicago Blackhawks. Clendening was signed by the Hawks back in 2014, and made his NHL debut their opening night. Nevertheless, he spent the majority of his time in Chicago in the minor league affiliate, the Rockford Icehogs. He has a total of 24 points in his career.

Another addition to the lineup is Ryan Murray. Murray missed the majority of the preseason camp after sustaining a groin injury. However, Tortorella says to expect to see Murray tonight. The defenseman had 12 points in 44 games last season.

look for new faces Riley Nash and Anthony Duclair in the lineup. Both are projected to appear on the fourth line with Sonny Milano. Milano played 55 games and garnered 22 points last season.

Nash signed with Columbus on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent from the Boston Bruins. Last year, he had a breakout season after netting 15 goals and 26 assists.

Duclair also had a decent season last year with the Chicago Blackhawks after getting 11 goals and 12 assists of his own in 56 games.

Despite the new faces and young talent, Tortorella doesn’t consider them to be a fourth line. He expects just as much from them as the rest of the team.

Regardless, the top line for Columbus has its star players together. Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson will be playing together tonight. Between the three forwards, they got 71 goals and 105 assists last season.

On Detroit's end of things, this will be the first year in a long time without captain Henrik Zetterberg. After being diagnosed with a degenerative back disease in September, the 37 year old veteran had to announce his retirement. He will drop the ceremonial puck tonight prior to the opening face-off.

In his absence, the Red Wings have appointed four alternate captains: Nik Kronwall, Justin Abdelkader, Frans Nielsen and Dylan Larkin. Kronwall and Abdelkader with be the primary alternates, while Nielsen will wear the "A" on the road, and Larkin will wear it at home.

Projected CBJ Lineup

Artemi Panarin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno — Alexander Wennberg — Oliver Bjorkstrand

Boone Jenner — Brandon Dubinsky — Josh Anderson

Anthony Duclair — Riley Nash — Sonny Milano

Zach Werenski — David Savard

Ryan Murray — Markus Nutivaara

Dean Kukan — Adam Clendening

Joonas Korpisalo

Sergei Bobrovsky