Jackets take on an old friend in Florida
The Jackets will conclude a short two-game road trip tonight as they take on the Florida Panthers and their old friend Sergei Bobrovsky.
The CBJ are coming into Florida having dropped their last game against the Washington Capitals in D.C. Elvis Merzlikins played very well in the loss, something the Jackets have been needing for two years. Unfortunately, they couldn't muster any offense to help him and lost to the Caps 2-1.
Florida also played on Saturday night. The Panthers were in Chicago to face the Blackhawks, and it didn't go very well. Anthony Stolarz started in the net for the Panthers and took a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Hawks. The Cats spotted the Blackhawks four goals but couldn't complete the comeback.
Three Keys
Get The Powerplay Going. The Panthers don't give up many power play opportunities, but when they do, they're not the best at killing them off. Their PK is currently 26th in the NHL at 72.2%. The Jackets PP has tumbled to 26th after the last few games, so special teams will be interesting to watch.
Elvis Must Continue To Dazzle. Florida is 4th in the league in shots on goal, averaging 34.1 shots a game. Elvis will be tested often as the Panthers will pump as many shots as they can at him. Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and Carter Verhaeghe lead the Cats in SOG. Don't be surprised if Aleksander Barkov has 6+ shots in this one.
Shake It Off Johnny. Johnny Gaudreau didn't play in the final 3/4 of the third period on Saturday night. HC Pascal Vincent said about Gaudreau after the game "We know Johnny can make a difference when he's skating and when he's involved, and tonight I felt he wasn't there, so we're going to play the guys that are playing. It doesn't matter who you are. It's about the Blue Jackets, and I didn't like his game." Johnny Gaudreau is a seasoned veteran and will no doubt come out of this flying. He knows he has to.
Series History
- Columbus is 26-17-4 all-time against the Panthers, including going 10-12-1 on the road.
- This series is typically a high-scoring one. The team that wins has scored four or more goals in eight straight meetings and 11 of the past 12 games. Be prepared for a barn burner.
- The Jackets have killed 26 of the last 29 power plays over the past 10 games against the Panthers.
Who to watch for Florida
- Sergei Bobrovsky is 4-3-1 with a 2.51 GAA and a save % of .912. He also has one shutout on the season. Bob always plays well against his former team, so look for him to continue that on Monday night.
- Sam Reinhart is the Cats leading scorer with 8 goals, with 3 of those being PP goals. He has a total of 11 points.
- Aleksander Barkov is second on the team in points but only has 2 goals. Barkov is due for a breakout where he scores a couple of goals.
Roster Notes
- Dmitri Voronkov has 4 points in his first five NHL games. After logging 9 PIMs in his first game, he's not been seen in the box since.
- Kirill Marchenko has registered two points since missing games as a healthy scratch.
- Elvis Merzlikins is the assumed starter. The Jackets have a two-day break before their next game on Thursday at home. They then have back-to-back games on the road this weekend where we will probably see Spencer Martin in one of those games. Elvis is 3-3-2 with a GAA of 2.86 and a save % of .905.
- Andrew Peeke and Adam Boqvist haven't played in a few weeks. Jake Bean did not have his best game against the Capitals, might we see a change on defense against the Panthers? We will find out when HC Pascal Vincent has his media availability on Monday afternoon.
- Daniil Tarasov traveled with the team on this road trip. Two weeks ago President of Hockey Ops John Davidson said in a radio interview that he was 2 or 3 weeks away from possibly returning. This is very good news for the CBJ.
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on Bally Sports Ohio. As always, the legendary Jeff Rimer will be on the play-by-play with his partner Jody Shelley. The radio broadcast will be on the alternate channel of 105.7 FM The Fan with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.