Blues At Blue Jackets Preview: #makeitseven

I honestly cannot get used to saying how dangerous the Columbus Blue Jackets are this season, but here we are. They're actually good. Sergei Bobrovsky has made the Philadelphia Flyers regret trading him away, and I'm pretty sure that Michael Leighton will too just for the hell of it. They haven't been as strong as they were a few weeks ago, but there's still a new excitement around the team that isn't all because of Marian Gaborik. They're in 11th place, but they're also just three points out of a playoff spot. They're not playing just to play spoiler; they're playing for their playoff lives. That makes them dangerous.

The Blues have won six straight games, and you can't argue with how they've done it -- three shutouts in a row is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Unfortunately in those three shutouts they've scored four goals. Not every game will be shutout hockey, and defense and offense aren't exactly mutually exclusive things. You're allowed to have both.

Sure, that hasn't been an issue for the Blues against Columbus; you can afford to sit back a little offensively when you've allowed just one goal a game in the three previous matchups. If the Blues win tonight, they sweep the Jackets. This wouldn't exactly be shocking, since the Blues have won ten out of the last 12 games. I'm sure that Ken HItchcock doesn't care, because it's not his style, but a win tonight would be win 600 for him; for it to come against his old team would be at least mildly entertaining.