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No time to think about the last game, the boys in Blue are right back at it again tonight. One more night on the ice, two more points that are up for grabs. The Blue Jackets were dealt pretty crummy hands in the last few years, but there was a lot of optimism for this season. That didn't last long - after opening the season 0-8-0 and hearing that the starting goaltender had no confidence, head coach Todd Richards got the axe and there was a new sheriff in town: former South Central Louisiana State University football coach Canucks coach John Tortorella.
Man, sometimes I wish the Blue Jackets were still in the Central Division...
Even the worst of streaks end, and this was no exception. The BJs won their first game while on the road in Colorado (LOL), and now they've gone 6-4-0 since the coaching change. They're still at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but they're gaining ground on Toronto and Carolina. As for the playoffs though, there's a long long way to go.
The injury bug still hasn't quite left the Blue Jackets alone this year. David Clarkson is out again/still with back issues, and Ryan Johansen missed a few games with some sort of mystery fatigue situation. Most recently, Brandon Dubinsky has been sidelined for 2 to 3 weeks with the dreaded "upper body" injury. But the news hasn't been all bad. In their last game the Blue Jackets won for the first time at home, beating the Coyotes 5-2. The BJs will want to win again and establish an official "streak". The Blues can stop them, first by avoiding too many trips to the box. Allowing 5 power plays to the Jets was just flirting with disaster. Furthermore, the Blues need to watch the speedsters on the ice. If our D can avoid being turned inside out by one of their speedy young guys like Boone Jenner or Brandon Saad , we'll be doing OK.
Being back to back games, perhaps we'll see Brian Elliott in goal. The Blue Jackets will likely start Sergei Bobrovsky in net.
Further Reading:
Puck-Rakers(Columbus Dispatch)
GameDay Twitter Feed:
Tweets from https://twitter.com/CrossCheckRaise/lists/gameday
Final Verse: Back in the East, so an early start tonight. The puck drops at 6 PM, and the GDT should drop just before that. Swing by the drive-thru liquor store and head straight home tonight. Come for the grousing, stay for the puppy gifs. The TV broadcast will be on Fox Sports MW, and the radio call is on KMOX 1120 AM. Thankfully, after these back to backs, the Blues will return for two games at home...
LGB!!!