Both teams played split-squad games over the weekend, and both teams split.
The Blue Jackets will take on the St. Louis Blues tonight at 8 p.m. in an old-school Central Division preseason game. The Jackets don’t play the Blues as much as they once did, and that’s probably a good thing. Columbus rarely wins in St. Louis, no matter if it’s preseason or regular season. I’ve dubbed it “A House of Horrors.” In 46 games all-time in St. Louis, the Jackets are 11-26-1-8 scoring 2.4 goals per game.
The Blues finished with 81 points last season, well out of the playoffs, and look to get back in it this year. But the Central Division is stacked with at least two cup contenders in the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars, with teams like the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets looking to close the gap on the Avs and Stars.
Here is the projected lineup that the Blues are expected to send against the Blue Jackets tonight. They'll be going NHL heavy tonight.
The Jackets will be sending Aaron Dell, Jet Greaves, and most of the lineup they used on the road at Pittsburgh on Sunday, plus or minus a few. The lineup for tonight will be up against a Blues team that will be throwing an NHL-heavy team at them. For young guys like Corson Ceulemans, James Malatesta, and Samuel Knazko, this should be a good trial for them.
The game will be featured on 97.1 The Fan and can be streamed on bluejackets.com with an 8 p.m. start.
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