Columbus Blue Jackets (64 pts) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (103 pts) Game Preview
The last 5 games of the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to be brutal. They have two games against Carolina and one each against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Nashville. The season is almost over.
Up first is the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at 5 p.m. The Hurricanes are really good and the CBJ have a hard time playing against them. Not only are they extremely skilled, but they're also big and heavy. The Blue Jackets always struggle to score goals against them.
The Hurricanes are playing well down the stretch and hope to catch the New York Rangers to win the Metro. Carolina is 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are five points back of the Rangers. The problem is that New York has won 8 of 10 as well. So the Canes need to keep pace.
Carolina is near the top in almost every stat category including power play and penalty kill, and they also don't give up a bunch of goals. This could be a long night for Columbus, especially coming in on a back-to-back and playing an earlier game than normal.
The Hurricanes currently sit 2nd in the Metro, 3rd in the East, and 4th in the NHL.
Series History vs. The Hurricanes
- Columbus is 13-13-3 on the road all-time vs. the Canes, and 26-27-5 in all meetings.
- The Jackets are 2-8-2 in the last 12 and have lost 5 of 6 to Carolina.
Who To Watch For The Hurricanes
- Sebastian Aho has 25 points in 32 career games against the CBJ. He also has 86 points this season.
- Jake Guentzel has 27 points in 22 career games vs. the Jackets. He has 72 points this season and has a stat line of 5-15-20 since being traded to the Hurricanes from Pittsburgh.
- Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov is 21-13-4 with a save % of .910.
- Frederic Andersen is 11-2-0 with a save % of .927.
- Former Jacket Spencer Martin is 4-0-1 with a .922 save %. He hasn't played since February 29th.
CBJ Player Notes vs. The Hurricanes
- Johnny Gaudreau has 14 points in 19 games against Carolina.
- Zach Werenski has 9 points in 25 games.
- Kirill Marchenko 4 points in 4 games, including a hat trick on Jan. 7, 2023.
- The home team has won 4 of the last games in the series.
Injuries
- Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture-Dec. 14; NHL Player Assistance Program-Jan. 28); 17 games (for injury)
- Adam Fantilli (calf laceration on Jan. 28); expected to miss 8 weeks (28 games)
- Kent Johnson (shoulder injury on Feb. 28); out the rest of season (19 games)
- Yegor Chinakhov (upper-body injury on Mar. 12); is day-to-day (12 games)
- Sean Kuraly (lower-body injury on Mar. 12); is week-to-week (12 games)
- Adam Boqvist (upper-body injury on Mar. 14); out indefinitely (11 games)
- Elvis Merzlikins (lower-body injury on Apr. 1); is day-to-day (3 games)
- Jake Bean (broken hand on Apr. 4); out rest of season (1 game)
- Daniil Tarasov (upper-body injury on Apr. 4); is day-to-day (1 game)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 286
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.