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CBJ— Canadian Trip Cut Cuz COVID; Canucks Comeback; Oilers Preview |
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Updated: 3:30pm
The Columbus Blue Jackets drop their first game of two in Western Canada, in a 4-3 comeback loss to the red hot Vancouver Canucks in the final minute of regulation. It is now only a two game swing this time around due to the recent league wide COVID spike, cancelling and shutting down the Calgary Flames; this leaves their only game left against the struggling Oilers, which will be previewed after the recap.
In the opening period, Columbus scored their first and only 3 goals of the entire game.Eric Robinson scored the first and last, increasing his goal total to 5 on the year; the other was provided by Max Domi for his 7th.
Robinson’s first of the game came in less than 5 minutes of the game, with supporting points from Alexandre Texier and Zach Werenski. Domer’s backhander came from Jack Roslovic and Gabriel Carlsson’s assists. The fourth line helped themselves on the final goal, with Tex getting his second assist on Robinson’s second goal; Gavin Bayreuther got the secondary Apple.
Vancouver came back with 4 goals in the final 37 minutes. Captain Bo Horvat for the team’s first and final goals of the game, pushing his season total to 9. The other two goals came from Elias Petterson and Vasily Podkolzin.
Horvat’s 8th came from in front, with assists by Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser. Petterson‘s 6th came from Connor Garland and Tyler Myers; Podkolzin’s 6th came from Hughes and Myers; and Horvat’s winner came from Miller and Hughes off the power play with 59 seconds left.
Halak stopped 20 of 23 for a 0.870 save percentage for the Nucks; Merzi stopped 35 of 39 for a 0.897 for the Union.
Boudreau knows what he is doing with this team, and is allowing the guys to score goals. They have the weapons between Miller, Boeser, Petterson, Horvat, Garland, and Podkolzin up from and Hughes on the back to push his system. The stars survive in his system, and they put a hurting on the Jackets later than expected in this matchup, even with the return of OEL and the usage of Halak. The Jackets’ hot start has really cooled off since Thanksgiving.
CBJ 3 Stars of the Game
1. Eric Robinson— 2 goals (5)
2. Max Domi— goal (7)
3. Alexandre Texier— 2 assists (7)
It might be time to switch the defensive pairs, as the only time they changed them was with injuries to the numbers 4-9 on the depth chart. Werenski, Bean, and Gavrikov remain to be their top 3, and what if they put Werenski and Gavrikov together? Could also be time to throw Korpisalo in there for more games too, as Merzi has been playing more consistently.
Next on tap is the Edmonton Oilers, in their only remain matchup out west this trip. The Oilers are struggling on a six game losing streak, with fans throwing jerseys there now too after defeat. Joining the rest of Canada in their cries for change, Edmonton has slipped to the final wild card, with the two best players in hockey on their roster.
The Oilers have been changing their entire offense and defensive depth, but still have not touched their goaltending since the dismissal of Peter Chiarelli a few years ago. Having leadership and grit in Zach Hyman, Duncan Keith, Derek Ryan, Colton Sceviour, and Cody Ceci is nice, but the stars don’t come through in the playoffs, and neither does the team.
They will be looking to rebound and prevent their 7th consecutive loss against the Union Blue; where the Jackets will look to prevent another road losing streak this season.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton Oilers
Warren Foegle—Connor McDavid—Jesse Puljujarvi
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins—Leon Drasatil—Kailer Yamamoto
Colton Sceviour—Derek Ryan—Zach Kassian
Tyler Benson—Kyle Turris—Brendan Perlini
Darnell Nurse—Evan Bouchard
Duncan Keith—Cody Ceci
Markus Niemelainen—Tyson Barrie
Mikko Koskinen
Stuart Skinner
Scratched— William Lagesson
Injured— Mike Smith, Oscar Klefbom, Josh Archibald, Alex Stalock, Slater Koekkoek, Kris Russell, Ryan McLeod, Zach Hyman, Dylan Holloway, Devin Shore
Columbus Blue Jackets
Yegor Chinakov—Boone Jenner—Oliver Bjorkstrand
Max Domi—Jack Roslovic—Jakub Voracek
Gustav Nyquist—Cole Sillinger—Justin Danforth
Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Alexandre Texier
Zach Werenski—Jake Bean
Vladislav Gavrikov—Andrew Peeke
Gabriel Carlsson—Gavin Bayreuther
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched—Emil Bemstrom, Gregory Hoffman , Jake Christiansen
Injured— Patrik Laine, Nathan Gerbe, Dean Kukan, Adam Boqvist
Players to Watch
Edmonton— Connor McDavid — the easiest choice I’ve made ever. He is the league’s best player, even in the team’s worst stretch, is only behind his teammate in points. He is easily the fastest player and most skilled in the world.
Columbus— Jakub Voracek— a near assist a game player has to keep his assists coming to get goals on the net for the team.
Keys to Win
Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. The Oilers’ goaltending is weaker than the Jackets, and most other teams in the league. They got to get the pucks on net and in deep to get there. The winger talent is more than capable to do it.
Connor. Columbus will have to attack by committee when he is on the ice, and the young defense will need to use their speed to shut him down and keep up with his unreal speed.
Leon. When there’s not just one star, he has more points than McDavid, and is on the second line. Shutting both lines down will be necessary to collect 2 points.
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Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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