Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets at Bruins

The Details

BLUE JACKETS at BRUINS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 23-43-7, 8th in Metropolitan
BOSTON: 57-12-5, 1st in Atlantic
TD GARDEN, 7 p.m. ET
BROADCAST INFO
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CBJ Player Statistics
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What They're Saying

Even Brad Larsen had a bit trouble believing what he was about to say, but the Blue Jackets head coach looked at the scoreboard and didn't think it was a representative sample of what happened two nights ago in Madison Square Garden.
"They battled the whole game," Larsen said. "It's a head scratcher. You look at it, 6-2, and there's not many nights where, it's not that you're satisfied, but there's not many guys where I go, 'They didn't five it tonight.' They gave it. You tip your hat to their goalie."
Indeed, had it not been for New York's Igor Shesterkin, who made a number of point-blank saves, perhaps things would have been a little bit different. The Blue Jackets are depleted right now, with injuries again piling up and a number of young players just getting their feet wet at the NHL level.
That helps explain why the score ended up so lopsided, as well as two late Rangers goals, but the Blue Jackets did leave Madison Square Garden thinking they had their chances.
"We were trading chances there, both teams," defenseman Billy Sweezey said. "We definitely had our looks. The score could have been 3-3 easily at the end of one. But that told the story. They took advantage on their chances, and we had a couple of opportunities that we left a little meat on the bone out there."

Know The Foe: Boston Bruins

Head coach: Jim Montgomery (First season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.69 (2nd) | Scoring defense: 2.11 (1st) | PP: 21.6 percent (15th) | PK: 86.2 percent (1st)
The narrative:The Bruins are putting together a historic season, with a chance to match or best the NHL record of 62 wins, set by Tampa Bay in 2018-19 and Detroit in 1995-96. It's hard to put into words just how dominant the Bruins have been, as the team got off to a 17-2-0 start and has hardly slowed down. Boston has just two losing streaks this year, a three-game stretch in late January and a two-game streak earlier this month that the team followed with a seven-game winning streak.
2022-23 leaders:Nine different Bruins are over 40 points on the season, and the team has both depth in scoring and top-level producers as well. David Pastrnak leads the way, as the 26-year-old is in the midst of the best season of his career with a 52-46-98 line that places him second in the NHL in goals and fourth in points. Brad Marchand is next with 20 goals among his 63 points, while Patrice Bergeron is having a Patrice Bergeron-type season with a 27-30-57 line and plus-33 rating. David Krejci (16-39-55), Pavel Zacha (18-31-49), Hampus Lindholm (10-30-49, plus-47), Charlie McAvoy (6-42-48), Jake DeBrusk (24-23-47) and Charlie Coyle (13-28-41) add plenty of depth.
In net, the Bruins have one of the best one-two punches in the league statistically in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark leads the way with a ridiculous 36-6-1 record, 1.90 GAA and .937 save percentage, while Swayman is 20-6-4 with a 2.21 GAA and .921 save percentage.
What's new:The Bruins dropped a 2-1 final against Nashville at home Tuesday, snapping a seven-game win streak in which the team outscored opponents by a 26-9 margin. That's been the story of the season for Boston, which has five win streaks of at least six games on the year. The Bruins also bolstered their roster at the trade deadline by acquiring forward Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit (1-5-6 in 13 games) as well as Garnet Hathaway (3-2-5 in 17 games) and Dmitry Orlov (3-10-13 in 16 games) from Washington.
Trending:Boston has captured the last five games in the series over the past two seasons, including a 4-0 win in Nationwide Arena on Oct. 28 and a 4-2 victory Dec. 17.
Former CBJ:Former CBJ captain Nick Foligno had a 10-16-26 line in 60 games before suffering a lower-body injury that appears set to end his regular season. Anton Stralman played eight games with Boston earlier this year, while Mike Reilly and Keith Kinkaid were once in the CBJ system but never played in a game for the Jackets.

3 Keys to the Game

Play in fives: Taking on a team with the firepower of the Bruins means playing team defense, with everyone fulfilling their responsibilities on the ice.
60 minutes: You have to be plugged in for the entirety of the game to take on the Bruins, who can take advantage of any mistake a team makes throughout the course of the game.
Let the young guys shine: The best two Blue Jackets on the ice in New York might have been rookies Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko. The two constantly created offensive chances, and their confidence is clearly booming.

3 Stats to Know

• Kirill Marchenko has 20 goals and three assists on the season, making him the only CBJ player in history to score at least 15 times in a season with less than 10 assists. Only one player in the NHL's modern era -- Florida's Brandon Pirri, with 22-2-24 in 2014-15 -- has finished a season with at least 15 goals and only three assists, per Hockey Reference.
• Johnny Gaudreau posted his 19th multipoint game of the season Tuesday in New York and has a 4-10-14 mark in the last nine games.
• Milestone watch: Marchenko tied Pierre-Luc Dubois' CBJ rookie record with his 20th goal of the season Tuesday. … Gaudreau became the fourth player in team history with 50 assists in a season with his helper Tuesday. He joins Artemi Panarin (twice), Ray Whitney and Jakub Voracek. … Boone Jenner (169-159-328, 651 GP) is seven points from surpassing Foligno (142-192-334) for third most in Blue Jackets history.

Who's Hot

The Blue Jackets rank fourth in the NHL in power-play percentage since Jan. 21, converting on 21 of 77 opportunities over the last 25 contests (27.3 percent). Columbus also has power-play goals in 10 of the last 13 games (12 of 36, 33.3 percent). … Jack Roslovic has points in four straight games (2-4-6). ... Liam Foudy has notched six goals in the last 18 contests. … Marchenko's 20 goals are tied for second in the league among rookie goal scorers, one behind leader Wyatt Johnston of Dallas. … Johnson has 2-7-9 in the last nine games, and his 15-23-38 line places him in the top 10 in team history among rookies in goals (sixth), assists (fourth) and points (tied for fourth). He ranks sixth in the NHL in goals and is fourth in points among rookies. … Now with a team-best 25 goals on the season after scoring six in the last nine games, captain Boone Jenner has consecutive 20-goal campaigns. … Columbus is first in the NHL in goals among rookies with 43 and second to Montreal in points with 102.

This Day in CBJ History

March 30, 2019: Cam Atkinson scores his 40th and 41st goals of the campaign at Nashville to tie Rick Nash's club record for goals in a season (2003-04) and join the former CBJ captain as the franchise's lone 40-goal scorers in a 5-2 win over the Predators.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Boone Jenner - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Jack Roslovic - Trey Fix-Wolansky
Liam Foudy - Sean Kuraly - Lane Pederson
Eric Robinson - Hunter McKown - Emil Bemstrom
Tim Berni - Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther - Billy Sweezey
Jake Christiansen - Marcus Bjork
Michael Hutchinson
Jon Gillies
Scratches:Adam Boqvist (illness), Patrik Laine (triceps strain, out two to four weeks as of March 24); Nick Blankenburg (ankle, week to week); Mathieu Olivier (lower leg bone bruise, out 2-4 weeks as of March 27); Erik Gudbranson (separated shoulder, out six weeks as of March 27); Elvis Merzlikins (lower body, day to day)
Injured reserve:Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:Both Boqvist and Christiansen missed morning skate because of illness, but the hope is Christiansen will be able to go, while Bjork has been added on emergency recall. Hutchinson will get the nod in net again.