Blue Jackets Look for Their 5th Straight Win

Recap

CBJ has found their niche and hope to keep their momentum going. The team has now won four games in a row, and look to continue that streak against the Montreal Canadiens.

In their most recent scrum, Columbus fought the New Jersey Devils. Within the first 45 seconds of the game, Cam Atkinson scored his 27th goal of the season. About two minutes later, Boone Jenner scored again for the Columbus team.

The New Jersey game ultimately ended 4-1 in favor of Columbus. Blake Coleman scored late in the second for New Jersey, but the team was never able to make up the deficit.

Head Coach John Tortorella was happy with how the game shook out, and felt they played a much better game against New Jersey than when they played New York a few days earlier.

The game against the Rangers went from an astounding 6-3 lead to an anxiety-inducing 6-5 fight. Tortorella described the game as a “cluster… fun.” Nice save, coach.

Tortorella was singing a very different tune following their win over New Jersey saying, "I thought we checked, didn't give up any odd-man rushes and just played straight ahead. I thought we were much more aware away from the puck in the third period.”

Columbus has been playing with more ferocity as of late, and they’re getting back to their “safe is death” mantra from previous seasons. They’ve also been playing it smart, though, which is difficult to balance out when the game starts to get aggressive.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, who often defends the team’s lead late in the game, provided some insight in balancing out ferocity and smart plays.

"You know they're going to be pressing a lot. Their D is going to be jumping in, their forwards maybe staying in, too. But I think in there, there's your sense of attacking them. I think sometimes you think you have to defend with five guys, and obviously you do, but once you get that puck behind them you can exploit those weaknesses, expose the fact that they have the fourth D in.”

200 Feet Away

Montreal has been wholly average this season.They’ve been tallying 3.00 goals per game and have allowed 2.96. Their power play is last in the league.

Carey Price is expected to start tonight against Columbus. The goaltender has had 35 starts this season is 18-13-4 with a 2.65 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Antii Niemi who is 8-4-1 and 3.63 GAA and .897 save percentage will play backup.

Additional Notes

Brandon Dubinsky will make his way back into the lineup tonight after missing four games. The veteran centerman sustained a strained hamstring against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Dubinsky has netted four goals and six assists this season and ranks second on the team for face-off wins (53.4%). Tortorella often relies on him to win face-offs in crucial moments.

CBJ Projected Lineup

Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson

Brandon Dubinsky - Alexander Wennberg - Kevin Stenlund

Oliver Bjorkstrand - Riley Nash - Lukas Sedlak

Zach Werenski - Seth Jones

Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara

Scott Harrington - David Savard

Joonas Korpisalo