Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Canadiens

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. CANADIENS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 5-9-1, 8th in Metropolitan
MONTREAL: 8-7-1, 6th in Atlantic
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 p.m. ET
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What They're Saying

It's not going to be perfect. It's not necessarily going to be pretty. But through all of the injury adversity that has hit the Blue Jackets over the past few days, Columbus has still found a way to play some of its best hockey of the season.
Columbus got a bit banged up on its Finland trip to begin the month, but things have stepped up recently with the Jackets losing players in last Thursday's home game vs. Philadelphia, Saturday's game at the New York Islanders and then Tuesday night's contest against the Flyers. In that one, both Elvis Merzlikins (lower body) and Jake Bean (upper) body left, with the former expected to be out one to two weeks and the latter likely facing a long-term layoff.
"Every time (head trainer) Mike Vogt walks into my office, I just shake my head," Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said. "It's not like it's day to day (injuries). It seems to be bad news -- real bad news."
Yet Columbus is 2-0-1 in that span, leading Larsen to laud his charges on how they have continued to battle through things.
"You have five out of six points here in three games," he said. "It's a good stretch with the amount of injuries that have piled up. They're playing hard. … Guys are giving it. Guys are digging in."
Columbus has gotten contributions from up and down the lineup, notching 13 goals in the past three games and scoring on the power play in two of the contests. Ten different players have scored in that span, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has stopped 92 of exactly 100 shots against.
It's been a team effort, and Tuesday's overtime hero Vladislav Gavrikov says there's more where that came from. With Columbus in the midst of a stretch of games at Nationwide Arena, the defenseman sees nothing stopping the Blue Jackets from continuing to add to their game.
"We still have details to improve," Gavrikov said. "We have a lot of good teams coming up this week. We need the points, especially when we are playing at home. We have to show the good hockey here."

Know The Foe: Montreal Canadiens

Head coach:Martin St. Louis (Second season)
Season Stats: Goals per game: 2.94 (20th) | Scoring defense: 3.31 (21st) | PP: 15.9 percent (29th) | PK: 79.6 percent (13th)
The narrative: It's been a roller coaster in Montreal since the Habs made a stunning run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, as last year was a full-on disaster until Dominique Ducharme was replaced by St. Louis. The Canadiens chose first overall in the 2022 draft and chose Juraj Slafkovsky to anchor a rebuilding effort that has seen both ups and downs to this point in the season.
2022-23 leaders:Youth has led the way, a good sign for a team that feels it's building something for the future. Captain Nick Suzuki (23 years old) is one of 14 players in the league with double digits in goals with a 10-9-19 line in the team's 16 games, while Cole Caufield (22) is capitalizing on his immense promise as the 2019 first-round pick has a 9-7-16 line. Kirby Dach (22), also a first-round pick that year who was acquired from Chicago in the offseason, has four goals and 10 assists, while 2020 first-rounder Kaiden Guhle (21) leads the defensemen with seven points.
In net, the Blue Jackets will see Sam Montembeault, who is 3-1-1 with a 2.38 GAA and .930 save percentage in five games.
What's new:The Habs are riding a bit of a hot streak coming to Columbus, as the team had won three in a row before falling Tuesday to red-hot New Jersey. Slafkovsky is just 18 but the massive Slovak youngster has notched three goals to this point. On the injury front, legendary goalie Carey Price is unlikely to play this year, while notable names Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin and Mike Matheson have missed games of late.
Trending:Columbus has points in seven games in a row in the series, posting a 6-0-1 mark in that span and sweeping last year's three-game series. In all, the Blue Jackets hold a 12-4-2 mark in the last 18 contests.
Former CBJ:St. Louis spent part of the 2018-19 season with the Blue Jackets as a special teams consultant. In his third season with Montreal, Josh Anderson has four goals and six points, while David Savard is now healthy after an injury-plagued first year with the Habs and has played in all 16 games with six helpers.

3 Keys to the Game

Handle the big guns: Montreal has struggled to get scoring from players outside of Suzuki, Caufield and Dach. The Blue Jackets can't let the top players run wild.
Everybody in: Columbus' ability to get offense from up and down the lineup has been a key to the recent results.
Defend home ice: Four of the team's five wins this year are in Nationwide Arena. In the midst of a long homestand, the home fans can help push the Jackets in times of trouble.

3 Stats to Know

• Captain Boone Jenner became just the third CBJ player in team history to reach 150 career goals with a brace in Tuesday night's win. He joins Rick Nash (289) and Cam Atkinson (213).
• Vladislav Gavrikov is just the fourth Blue Jackets defenseman to have multiple overtime goals in a season, joining Seth Jones (2016-17 and 2018-19), Zach Werenski (2019-20) and Jake Bean (2021). He is the fifth different defenseman in NHL history to score each of his first two or more goals of a season in overtime.
• Milestone watch: Head coach Brad Larsen is three games from 100 for his NHL career. … Erik Gudbranson is three points from 100 for his NHL career (27-70-97, 654 GP). … Boone Jenner is six points from 300 for his NHL career (150-144-292, 604 GP).

Who's Hot

Jenner has four goals in the last three games. … Columbus now has 19 different players with goals this year in 15 games, a mark that ties for second in the NHL. Thirteen of those players have multiple goals on the year. ... The CBJ fourth line tallied twice Tuesday with Sean Kuraly and Eric Robinson notching goals. ... Joonas Korpisalo has gone 2-0-1 in the last three. … Marcus Bjork has a point in each of his first two NHL games thus far (one goal, one assist). … With 11 goals by defensemen, the Jackets are tied for fourth in the NHL.

This Day in CBJ History

Nov. 17, 2017: Sergei Bobrovsky stops 36 shots against as the Blue Jackets notch a 2-0 victory in Nationwide Arena against the New York Rangers.
Nov. 17, 2018: Cam Atkinson notches his fifth career hat trick in a 4-1 win at Carolina, part of a streak in which Atkinson had goals in seven straight games.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Boone Jenner - Emil Bemstrom
Yegor Chinakhov - Cole Sillinger - Gustav Nyquist
Liam Foudy - Jack Roslovic - Kent Johnson
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov - Marcus Bjork
Jake Christiansen - Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther - Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Daniil Tarasov
Scratches:Brendan Gaunce, Elvis Merzlikins
Injured reserve:Patrik Laine (ankle sprain, out three to four weeks as of Nov. 14); Nick Blankenburg (ankle, out six to eight weeks as of Nov. 11); Adam Boqvist (broken foot; out six weeks as of Oct. 26); Jake Bean (shoulder; out indefinitely); Zach Werenski (shoulder; out for season); Jakub Voracek (upper body, out indefinitely); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery; out six months as of Oct. 25)
Roster Report:Bean and Merzlikins are out after suffering injuries Tuesday vs. Philadelphia, while Bemstrom is a game-time decision, Larsen said. Roslovic, meanwhile, will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch against the Flyers.