PREVIEW: Blue Jackets head to Tampa looking to rebound
Columbus players believe they're still in the race, but wins have to come quickly
Columbus enters this week's four games in six days in Florida still believing they have a chance at postseason hockey. The good news? Just three points behind Nashville and Chicago, Columbus remains within shouting distance of the last playoff spot in the Central Division.
The bad, other than the team's current four-game losing streak? With Tampa Bay, Carolina and Florida having gotten off to such strong starts, it appears just one postseason spot remains for the Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Predators and Dallas Stars.
But as any athlete or team does, the Blue Jackets feel they still have a strong shot at that spot.
"Very confident," Seth Jones said after Sunday's loss. "What are we, three points out? With 20 games left? Plenty of hockey to go. We have to find a way to play with consistent effort every night. We can't go into some games hoping to win. We have to be the aggressor in all these games whether we win or lose. We're not going to go out without a fight, I can tell you that."
The tough news is that the weekend was a missed opportunity for Columbus, which fell victim to the Red Wings' first sweep of the year. Things get a little tougher on this trip to the Sunshine State, as Tampa Bay enters tied for second in the league in points percentage while Florida isn't too far behind in sixth.
Columbus feels it can compete with the Lightning, though, and not just because of 2019's first-round sweep or even last year's closer-than-the-result would indicate 4-1 series loss to the Bolts. The Blue Jackets split with Tampa Bay early in the season in Columbus, and if the team played down to Detroit over the weekend, it could at least stand to reason it would go the other way against the Bolts.
After all, the last time the Blue Jackets took to the ice in Amalie Arena, it was Game 2 of the 2019 playoffs, when the underdog Blue Jackets were in the midst of that memorable series victory against the Lightning.
"Maybe going against Tampa, going against Florida at the end of this road trip we'll be able to ramp our game back up," Jack Roslovic said.
Know the Foe
Columbus goes from the frying pan into the fire in some ways with this one, trading the last-place Red Wings for the first-place Lightning, who enter the game perhaps looking for their own jump-start after following a five-game winning streak with a two-game losing skid.
And a year after the Bolts were able to capture the Stanley Cup that had eluded this core, Tampa Bay again has been one of the best teams in the league. Even with 2019 Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov on the shelf with a hip injury, the Lightning leads the NHL with 3.59 goals per game and is fifth in the league in team defense, allowing 2.38. The Bolts also are second in the NHL at 27.7 percent on the power play and ninth in PK at 81.8 percent.
The team also was without defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak Saturday in Carolina in a 4-3 loss, but there's still plenty of depth on the squad. Perennial Norris Trophy candidate and 2020 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Victor Hedman leads the Bolts and all NHL defensemen with 33 points (six goals, 27 assists), while Steven Stamkos is back from last year's core injury that cost him most of the playoffs and leads the team with 16 goals to go with 31 points including nine power-play tallies.
Ondrej Palat adds a 12-19-31 line and seven power-play goals for the Lightning, while Brayden Point (13-17-30) makes Tampa Bay just one of two teams in the NHL along with Winnipeg with a quartet of 30-point scorers. Yanni Gourde (13 goals) and Alex Killorn (10) also are in double digits in scoring. Even banged up, the defense corps boasts names like Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev (2-20-22).
In net, 2019 Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy is turning in another impressive season, again showing he's one of the top goalies in the league with a 21-5-1 record, 1.99 GAA and .930 save percentage. Backup Curtis McElhinney, a former CBJ netminder, is at 3-3-1 in seven games with marks of 3.16/.880.
3 Keys to the Game
Win special teams: Or at least draw. Tampa is in the top 10 in the league in each category, but the CBJ PK has made strides of late, stopping all 10 opponent power-play tries in the past five games. Tampa thrives on man-up tallies, scoring multiple power-play goals in six games.
Start fast: We've said this a few times recently, but the Blue Jackets have to show early that the lost weekend in Detroit is behind them.
Handle the surges: Tampa Bay can overwhelm you at any time with their talent, but key moments such as after goals and early/late in periods is when the Bolts can truly change the game. Columbus can't let that happen.
Of Note
Eric Robinson played in his 100th career contest Sunday, while Dean Kukan is expected to play in his 100th NHL game tonight. … Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team with a 12-17-29 line this year and has 6-7-13 in the last 13 games. … Defenseman Seth Jones has a 3-4-7 line in the last seven games. ... Max Domi has played in 304 consecutive games since Feb. 2, 2017, the seventh longest active streak in the NHL. … Tortorella has 668 career wins, four behind Mike Keenan for 12th place in NHL history. … The Blue Jackets have played in 20 one-goal games this season, tied for second-most in the NHL (Anaheim, 23). … Columbus is 4-9-3 all-time in the regular season at Tampa Bay and has lost three in a row there, with the last victory a 3-1 triumph on Jan. 13, 2017. … The teams did not play by the bay last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled a scheduled March meeting in Amalie Arena. … The Blue Jackets were on an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) in the regular season series before the win in Columbus earlier this season.
Projected Lineup
(Subject to change)
Max Domi - Kevin Stenlund - Patrik Laine
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Jack Roslovic - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alexandre Texier - Nick Foligno
Eric Robinson - Zac Dalpe - Liam Foudy
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard
Mikko Lehtonen - Dean Kukan
Elvis Merzlikins
Cam Johnson
Scratches:Riley Nash, Gabriel Carlsson, Michael Del Zotto, Joonas Korpisalo (lower-body injury)
Taxi squad:Mikhail Grigorenko, Stefan Matteau, Ryan MacInnis, Scott Harrington
Injured reserve:Gus Nyquist (shoulder, out 5-6 months as of November), Emil Bemstrom (lower body, out around a week as of March 18), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist, LTIR)
Roster report: Columbus will make four changes to the roster, with Dalpe making his season debut at center and Foudy entering the lineup for the first time since Feb. 7. They go into the forward group in place of Nash and MacInnis, while Carlsson and Del Zotto are out in the defensive group. In their place, Lehtonen will make his CBJ debut, while Kukan will play in his 100th game. Johnson was added on an emergency recall this afternoon and is expected to back up Merzlikins with Korpisalo still out despite practicing today.
