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Columbus Blue Jackets (16-11-3, 35pts) vs.
Edmonton Oilers (11-14-5, 27pts)
Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Thursday, December 16, 2010
9:30 PM EST
TV: FSN-OH HD / Radio: WBNS 97.1 FM
(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)
The Jackets get right back it again tonight after two straight games in which they’ve rallied to force overtime only to drop a heart-breaker. But, at the end of the day, if you’d said they’d have two points through the trip thus far, I’d have taken that. And they have certainly had to earn those two points. Their Western Canadian road trip ends tonight in Edmonton, who is struggling at the bottom of the conference, though of late they’ve been much better in winning six of ten. Can the Jackets come home with four points on the trip? Let’s hope so. They’ve rallied for overtime the last two, but haven’t finished strong. They need to finish strong tonight, both in terms of the game and the trip as a whole.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets:
| SC1: | Rick Nash | Derick Brassard | Jakub Voracek |
| SC2: | Kristian Huselius | Antoine Vermette | RJ Umberger |
| CK1: | Ethan Moreau | Sammy Pahlsson | Tom Sestito |
| CK2: | Chris Clark | Kyle Wilson | Andrew Murray |
| D1: | Jan Hejda | Fedor Tyutin | |
| D2: | Rostislav Klesla | Marc Methot | |
| D3: | Kris Russell | Mike Commodore | |
| G: | Mathieu Garon |
Edmonton Oilers:
| SC1: | Taylor Hall | Sam Gagner | Jordan Eberle |
| SC2: | Dustin Penner | Andrew Cogliano | Linus Omark |
| CK1: | Magnus Paajarvi | Gilbert Brule | Ryan Jones |
| CK2: | Zack Stortini | Colin Fraser | Steve MacIntyre |
| D1: | Theo Peckham | Tom Gilbert | |
| D2: | Ladislav Smid | Jason Strudwick | |
| D3: | Ryan Whitney | Kurtis Foster | |
| G: | Nikolai Khabibulin |
Team Rankings
Scoring:
CBJ – 2.53 gpg (21st NHL)
EDM – 2.57 gpg (19th NHL)
Defense:
CBJ – 2.70 gapg (14th NHL)
EDM – 3.37 gapg (28th NHL)
Power Play:
CBJ – 12.2% (29th NHL)
EDM – 16.1% (19th NHL)
Penalty Kill:
CBJ – 80.5% (23rd NHL)
EDM – 71.3% (30th NHL)
Season Matchups
This is the second of four matchups this season:
10/28/10 – Edmonton 2 @ Columbus 3 – SO – (box) – Highlights
12/16/10 – Columbus @ Edmonton – 9:30 PM EST
02/05/11 – Edmonton @ Columbus – 7:00 PM EST
03/03/11 – Columbus @ Edmonton – 9:00 PM EST
Game Notes
The Jackets are wrapping up their road trip tonight, and they can make it a pretty successful trip with two points tonight. Edmonton is a team that can be had, so hopefully the Jackets can capitalize. They have a couple of things working in their favor. Edmonton is missing a couple of key guys in Ales Hemsky—who has almost always tormented the Jackets throughout his career—and Shawn Horcoff are both out for tonight’s game. And, beyond that, the Oiler’s Penalty Kill is easily the worst in the league, and—don’t look now!—the CBJ’s Power Play has been a bit better of late, with PP goals in five of their last six games, including one each on this road trip.
It’s hard to say who will be in net tonight for Columbus. Given his performance in the past two games, the default is Mathieu Garon, though with the back-to-back followed by a game in Columbus in just two days, seeing Steve Mason between the pipes is entirely possible as well. In other roster news, Kristian Huselius played his first game in 22 contests last night in Vancouver, and will go again tonight. His presence—despite the fact that he’s still working back into game shape—is a definite boost to the club’s top two lines. Missing tonight’s game, however, is Derek Dorsett, who was injured in Vancouver last night. Tom Sestito will drop back to the third or fourth line, and some other combination of Chris Clark, Kyle Wilson, and Andrew Murray will round out those lines.
Which brings me to Ethan Moreau.
The former Oilers’ Captain has probably had this game circled on his calendar for quite some time. The Oilers waived him this past summer and planned a contract buyout, and then Columbus claimed him off of waivers. Moreau missed his first chance to play against his old mates back in late October when the Oil came to Columbus; Moreau was out with a broken hand. Regardless of that game, however, this is the first one back in Rexall Place, so you know Moreau will be ready to bring the pain. He’s said as much, telling The Dispatch that it’s “only natural” to want to drop the hammer on his former club after the summer’s events and the last two years of his tenure in Edmonton.
All in all, I believe that if the Jackets play like they’re capable, and continue the never-say-die attitude they’ve had the past two games, I think they can win tonight and head home with four points in three games, which is a successful road trip, really. The Jackets have managed to claw their way back into the 8th spot in the playoff chase despite not really coming home with wins, so a win tonight would certainly be a positive sign as well.
From The Outside Looking In
Lowe Tide
The Copper & Blue
Puttin’ On the Foil
Next Game For The Jackets
Saturday, December 18, 2010
7:00 PM EST
Dallas Stars @ Columbus Blue Jackets