Columbus Blue Jackets (44 pts) vs. Anaheim Ducks (42pts) Game Preview
Tonight marks the third "Battle for Celebrini" the Jackets have played in the last four games. Depending on how you view it, the Blue Jackets are doing good, and bad, on the Celebrini Chase. They lost to Ottawa, beat San Jose, and now will face the Anaheim Ducks.
The Anaheim Ducks come into this game winners of two of the last three games, and 5-4-1 in the last 10. John Gibson got the win in the most recent game on Monday, while both goalies contributed to a 9-2 beatdown to the Toronto Maple Leafs over the weekend.
In terms of talent, it would seem that the Blue Jackets have the edge in this game, but the Ducks seem to have the Jackets number lately. The Ducks have a statistical edge as they're better on the PP and PK than the Jackets are, but the Ducks, much like the Blue Jackets are wildly inconsistent, so this game could go either way. The Ducks also take the most penalties in the league, so the CBJ PP could wake up tonight.
The Ducks currently sit 7th in the Pacific, 14th in the West, and 30th in the NHL.
Keys To The Game
- Specialty Teams Need To Snap Out Of It ASAP. The power play and penalty kill have been disgustingly bad lately. Even against bad teams, the CBJ PK is giving up 2 to 3 PP goals a game. And against bad PK teams, the Jackets PP can't get anything going either. It's time for something positive to happen.
- Park Voronkov In Front Of The Anaheim Net. Don't let Dmitri Voronkov move from in front of the Ducks goalie tonight. He has proven that he can do some damage with his mountain-like presence in front, so let him stay there. Park him there and let him chip in some goals from the "dirty areas." Something has to give this team a spark.
Series History vs. The Ducks
- The Jackets are 14-15-4 all-time In Anaheim, and 30-28-8 in all meetings.
- Columbus is 0-3-2 in the last 5 games vs. The Ducks, and 1-3-1 in the last 5 inside The Honda Center.
- The Blue Jackets have killed off the last 35 power play tries by Anaheim.
- The Ducks won the most recent meeting on Oct. 24, 2023, in OT at NWA.
Who To Watch For The Ducks
- Frank Vatrano has 26 goals and 44 points on the season. He also had the OT winner against Columbus back on October 24th.
- Troy Terry has 16 goals and 42 points.
- Cam Fowler has 4 goals and 27 points and has chipped in 13 power-play points.
- John Gibson is 12-19-1 with a save % of .900.
- Lukas Dostal 8-14-1 with a .897 save %.
CBJ Player Notes vs. The Ducks
- Johnny Gaudreau has 29 points in 32 games against the Ducks.
- Adam Boqvist has 6 points in 7 games.
- Jack Roslovic has 9 points in 12 games.
Injuries
- Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture-Dec. 14; NHL Player Assistance Program-Jan. 28); 17 games
- Adam Fantilli (calf laceration on Jan. 28); expected to miss 8 weeks; 5 games
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 185
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 97.1 The Fan with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
More From THN Columbus
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.