PREVIEW: Blue Jackets look for third win in a row

NOTE: The start time of tonight’s game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Anaheim Ducks at Nationwide Arena has been moved to 8:30 pm ET from the scheduled 6:30 pm ET start as a result of a power outage in downtown Columbus.  Doors at the arena will open at 7:45 pm ET.

Pascal Vincent likely had a pretty good Sunday after the Blue Jackets posted back-to-back wins Friday and Saturday, but he still got a little work done.

The CBJ head coach rewatched the Jackets’ 5-4 overtime win vs. Minnesota on Saturday night and liked much of what he saw. But one moment in particular stood out.

“There’s a clip of Johnny (Gaudreau), second period one-on-one with (Minnesota defenseman) Jacob Middleton,” Vincent said. “A big man. And (Gaudreau) just competes and competes and he falls on his stomach, and he keeps the puck in the zone. Just that mind-set was perfect.

“When you do that, I feel the X’s and O’s, you’ll make some mistakes, but you cover up all the mistakes with that kind of intensity.”

And while the Blue Jackets did make a few mistakes – hence the four goals in the net for the Wild – they made up for it with the way they controlled the puck and the play for most of the game. When it was all said and done, the Blue Jackets had 54 shots on goal – tied for fourth most in franchise history in a regular season game – and 92 shot attempts, the most since December 2016.

Add in a strong effort Friday in a 3-1 win over Calgary and the Blue Jackets feel they’re starting to become the team they think they can be.

“Out of the first three (games), we felt we out of the first nine periods, we didn’t play more than half the way we wanted to and we’re capable of,” captain Boone Jenner said. “We needed to push it and look ourselves in the mirror, but I like the effort the last two games. Obviously we ramped up the compete level, we were on pucks quicker. You get the results if you put that kind of work in.”

Keep in mind that tonight’s game is a 6:30 p.m. start, as the game will be included in the ESPN Frozen Frenzy event in which all 32 teams are in action, with ESPN+ (7 p.m.) and ESPN2 (8 p.m.) showing live action from around the league.

When the cameras pop into Columbus, the hope is the Blue Jackets will continue to play the right way, just as they have in the last two victories.

“We’re doing the right things, and it’s all about the process and managing the shift lengths, managing the puck, managing our tracking and our gap and staying connected,” Vincent said.

Know The Foe: Anaheim Ducks

Head coach: Greg Cronin (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 2.20 (28th) | Scoring defense: 3.00 (13th) | PP: 6.7 percent (28th) | PK: 74.1 percent (21st)

The narrative: Anaheim has missed the playoffs for five straight years and a sixth wouldn’t be a surprise with the Ducks in the midst of a rebuild. It appears young players will get the chance to grow this season, with Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, Tristan Luneau, Mason McTavish, Jamie Drysdale, Trevor Zegras and Jackson LaCombe all at age 23 or younger and earning playing time in the lineup. All are considered strong prospects, with the exception of Zegras, who is already established as one of the top young players in the league with back-to-back 60-point seasons under his belt.

Team leaders: Veteran Frank Vatrano has led the way in the early going, posting team-high totals of four goals and five points. McTavish is off to a strong start with a 2-2-4 line, while Ryan Strome has four assists to lead the squad in that category. Troy Terry has a 1-2-3 line, while Zegras has struggled to get going so far with a single assist in five games.

In net, John Gibson is in his 11th year in Anaheim and off to an 0-3-0 start, though he has a 2.72 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. Lukas Dostal, a 23-year-old Czech, is 1-1-0 in two games with a 2.55 GAA and .919 save percentage.

What's new: The team brought in forward Ross Johnston and defenseman Radko Gudas for depth, but by and large it appears as though the squad is going to focus on youth this season, giving the players listed above some long leashes and big playing time. Carlsson scored in his NHL debut and has played in two games thus far (he won't skate tonight, per Cronin), while Mintyukov and Drysdale (currently out with a lower-body injury) have been two of the top three defensemen in minutes.

Trending: Anaheim has had the better of the series in recent years, as the Blue Jackets are 0-3-1 over the past two seasons against the Ducks and dropped four straight games in the series at Nationwide Arena.

Former CBJ: None

3 Stats to Know

• Forward Justin Danforth has goals in two straight games and three of the last four contests, posting a 3-1-4 line in that span
• Adam Fantilli became the 15th teenager in CBJ history to score a goal when he got his first career goal Saturday in Minnesota and the second to do so this season, following David Jiricek.
• Milestone watch: Kent Johnson is eight games from 100 for his NHL career (17-28-45, 92 GP). ... Jack Roslovic is eight points from 200 and 10 games from 400 for his NHL career (72-120-192, 390 GP).

Who’s Hot

Jenner has four goals in the last four games. With a team-high 26 goals last year, Jenner joined Nash, David Vyborny, R.J. Umberger, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand as the only Blue Jackets with three or more 20-goal seasons. … Ivan Provorov has registered 0-4-4 in the last four contests, including assists in each of the last two outings. … Roslovic had the overtime winner Saturday and now has points in two straight games. … After notching just four assists in 59 games last year – and becoming the only CBJ player in team history to score at least 15 times in a season with less than 10 helpers – Kirill Marchenko has three assists in the first three games of the season.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 24, 2012: John Davidson is named president of hockey operations and alternate governor of the Blue Jackets.

Oct. 24, 2019: Cam Atkinson scores in overtime as the Blue Jackets post a 4-3 win over Carolina at Nationwide Arena.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Kirill Marchenko
Jack Roslovic – Adam Fantilli – Alexandre Texier
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Emil Bemstrom
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov – David Jiricek
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratches: Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Patrik Laine (day to day, upper body as of Oct. 20), Yegor Chinakhov (back strain, week to week), Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets placed Laine on injured reserve Monday and recalled Voronkov, but the young Russian forward is not expected to go into the lineup, per Vincent. Columbus will use the same lineup as in Minnesota, per Vincent.