PREVIEW: Blue Jackets complete homestand against Flames

After the Blue Jackets’ 4-0 loss to Detroit on Monday night, a game in which Columbus played well early and then struggled to respond as the Red Wings pulled away, alternate captain Sean Kuraly expressed dismay with the team’s performance.

“We didn’t like the battle level or compete level, which sucks to be talking about because that should be expected,” Kuraly said. "We have to get better at that.”

It seems head coach Pascal Vincent agreed. After an off day Tuesday, the coaching staff put the Blue Jackets through a grueling hour-long practice Wednesday that ended with a gauntlet of drills designed to improve the team’s battle level. For the final 15 minutes, three groups of CBJ players rotated through a drill in which players battled for the puck for around 15 seconds, then skated laps at the whistle.

Though the Blue Jackets have played just three games, it’s fair to say it was a targeted effort to attack a weakness. Vincent acknowledged the squad was at a favorable spot in the schedule, with three full days without a game, to be put to the test.

"I feel like we need to find a way to sustain the mindset even when we’re tired, so lots of one-on-one (drills),” Vincent said. “Part of what we need to get better at is those one-on-one battles and win them – puck retrievals, O-zone plays and retrievals, shot retrievals, power-play retrievals. So we’re gonna work on that until we become better. Today was the perfect day to do it.”

There was little disagreement, as well, from the locker room. The hard skate probably wasn’t anyone’s idea of fun, but going into tonight’s game against Calgary, the team acknowledged the practice was focused on an area where the Blue Jackets have to get better to win games.

“We have three days before a game, so we knew a hard practice was coming, especially after a loss,” Damon Severson said. “It’s expected.”

Know The Foe: Calgary Flames

Head coach: Ryan Huska (First season)

2022-23 Stats: Goals per game: 3.15 (19th) | Scoring defense: 3.01 (13th) | PP: 19.8 percent (19th) | PK: 82.6 percent (5th)

The narrative: Coming off of its best regular season in two decades, Calgary made major moves in the summer of 2022, including a blockbuster trade of Matthew Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. But things really never got on track last season, and a team that made the second round of the playoffs the year before didn’t make it to the postseason. That led to a coaching change, with Huska replacing Darryl Sutter, and the Flames hope a different vibe will lead to more success this year. So far, Calgary is off to a 2-1-1 start after last night’s 4-3 win at Buffalo.

2022-23 leaders: Calgary made another major trade in the offseason, sending last year’s leading scorer, Tyler Toffoli, to New Jersey for Yegor Sharangovich. The top 11 scorers after Toffoli are back, though, led by Elias Lindholm, as the center had a 22-42-64 line a season ago. Nazem Kadri is the top returning goal scorer, with 24 among his 56 points, while Michael Backlund had a 19-37-56 line last year and Huberdeau posted 15 goals and 55 points.

In net, Jacob Markstrom is back after leading the Flames with 58 starts last season, going 23-21-12 with a 2.92G GAA and .892 save percentage. Dan Vladar got the start last night in Buffalo, so it seems Markstrom will play tonight in Columbus.

What's new: Sharangovich was the biggest offseason acquisition and has notched an assist in the first four games after posting 30 points with the Devils last season. 2021 first-round pick Matthew Coronato made the Flames out of camp and has a goal and assist thus far, while Huska takes over the squad for his first NHL head coaching job after serving as an assistant with the Flames the past five seasons.

Trending: The teams split the series a year ago, with Columbus posting a 3-1 win in Nationwide Arena in December before Calgary won an overtime decision in the Saddledome in January in Johnny Gaudreau’s return. Last year’s CBJ win broke a three-year streak without a win against Calgary, as the Jackets are now 1-5-2 in the series since the 2018-19 season.

Former CBJ: None

3 Stats to Know

• 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.
• Goalie Elvis Merzlikins has stopped 57 of 60 shots thus far for a .950 save percentage.
• Milestone watch: Patrik Laine is one goal from 200 for his NHL career (199-182-381, 465 GP). … Andrew Peeke is four games away from his 200th NHL game (9-25-34, 196 GP).

Who’s Hot

Boone Jenner notched a hat trick in Saturday’s game, the second of his career and 47th in team history. … 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. … Five players join Jenner and Marchenko with multiple points so far: Laine (1-1-2), Jake Bean (1-1-2), Gaudreau (0-2-2) and Ivan Provorov (0-2-2). … Gaudreau had 20 multipoint games last season, third in team history, and posted two primary assists in the win over the Rangers on Saturday.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 20, 2022: The Blue Jackets rally from a 3-1 third-period deficit to take a 5-3 win at Nationwide Arena over Nashville. Goals from Gaudreau and Justin Danforth tied the score before Nick Blankenburg’s game-winning goal with 1:23 to play.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

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

Scratches: F Mathieu Olivier, D Adam Boqvist, D Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve/Injured Non-Roster: Yegor Chinakhov (back strain, week to week), Daniil Tarasov (knee, week to week)

Roster Report: Vincent said Merzlikins will start after missing Monday's game with a stomach bug, while Merzlikins will return to the lineup in place of Boqvist after being activated from injured reserve this afternoon.