The Jackets have points in 3 straight games
The Columbus Blue Jackets probably should've beaten the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, but they lost it. They need to have a short memory though, because waiting for them tonight is the Montreal Canadiens.
Cole Caufield leads the Habs against the Jackets tonight at the Bell Centre with his six points in six games. The Canadiens are 3-2-1 on the season.
While the Jackets are coming off of a frustrating loss to the Ducks, the Habs took a tough loss against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, getting beat 5-2. The loss came as they opened a three-game home stand.
The Jackets meanwhile have spent a lot of time at home so far and will continue with that luxury until January. The CBJ won't play more than two games away from home until they hit the road for Western Canada on January 23rd. Due to that trip, the all-star break, and the mandatory week off, they won't play another home game until February 10th and have just four home games in all of February. Needless to say, the Jackets need to take full advantage of the schedule until then.
GameDay Notes
Back in Montreal, the Jackets will ice a slightly different lineup than they did on Tuesday night.
Kent Johnson will most likely be scratched tonight, as Russian Dmitri Voronkov will take his spot in the lineup. This marks the second time Johnson has been scratched this season. Johnson was hardly a factor in the game against the Ducks, being beaten off the puck and generally out-muscled most of the night.
- Based on practice yesterday, Jack Roslovic has been moved up to the first line to join Gaudreau and Jenner.
- Emil Bemstrom has moved up to play with Fantilli and Texier.
- Kirill Marchenko, who had been playing with Jenner and Gaudreau, has been moved down to play with Sillinger and Danforth. Other than Jenner, that line with Gaudreau and Marchenko has yet to get anything going. Something had to change.
- That 4th line of Voronkov, Kuraly, and Olivier could be scary. That's three large men that will be skating at the same time.
- Elvis Merzlikins will get the start.
- Former Jacket David Savard will be out long-term after suffering an injury the other night. He'll be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured hand.
- Another former Jacket, Josh Anderson has just one point through six games.
- The Habs have played three different goalies this season, Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault, and Cayden Primeau, with Primeau starting and losing the game Tuesday night. Jake Allen has played in the most games with three. It's a true goalie carousel. As of now, the Habs have yet to announce the lineup for tonight.
The only question for tonight is, will we see an Arber Xhekaj vs. Mathieu Oliver or Dmitri Voronkov matchup? Something tells me Voronkov won't fight in his first NHL game, but stranger things have happened. Look for Olivier to be the one to step into the ring with Xhekaj.
The Jackets and Canadiens play tonight at 7 p.m.
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