The Jackets welcome Boston to Irish Broadway
The Columbus Blue Jackets will get the Boston Bruins at Nationwide Arena today at 7 p.m.
The Bruins are coming into Columbus having lost two straight and three of their last four. In the last two losses, they're giving up six goals a game on average. But don't let that fool you, somehow the Bruins picked up where they left off last year and are dominating teams on most nights. The Bruins are currently 1st in the Atlantic, 2nd in the East, and 2nd in the NHL.
Three Keys
Stay Poised. The Bruins are a wagon, and they're going to come at the Columbus net early and often. Don't get rattled by the aggressiveness and play within the structure and system. If the last two games have shown anything, it's that they can play the elite teams and slow them down. Even in the loss to Carolina, they played well most of the game. Replicate that.
Don't Leave Your Goalies On An Island. Too many times this season the defense has left the CBJ goalies hanging out to dry and that's not a good recipe for success. Good teams will hurt you doing that, and it's happened more times than we can count so far this season.
Fire The Cannon. That means score goals. The Jackets have played five home games this month and scored 18 goals, with seven of those coming in one game. They're averaging 3.6 goals a game at home in November and to win, they're most likely going to need to score four or more against Boston.
Series History
- The Jackets are 8-7-5 at home vs. Boston all-time.
- The CBJ are 4-2-2 in their last 8 games at NWA.
- Columbus is 0-3-3 in the last six games in the series.
Who to watch for Boston
- David Pastrnak has 13 goals and 31 points. He also has 14 power-play points.
- Brad Marchand has 7 goals and 19 points. You should always watch out for Marchand.
- Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman split the weekend games for the Bruins, with Ullmark playing on Saturday. It doesn't really matter who plays tonight against the Jackets, there's going to be a really good goalie in the net.
Player Notes
- Johnny Gaudreau has 17 points in 16 games vs. Boston.
- Patrik Laine has 11 points in 13 games against Boston.
- CBJ rookies have 22 points in 22 games this season, good enough for third in the NHL.
- TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 53
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. The radio broadcast will be on 105.7 FM 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.