The Columbus Blue Jackets are back for their first back to back contest of the season, and this evening’s matchup is in Missouri against the St. Louis Blues.

Since these teams last met, the Blues moved forward Klim Kostin to the Edmonton Oilers for defender Dmitri Samorukov. The Blues are dealing with a plethora of injuries. Defenseman Scott Perunovich is out for the regular season after shoulder surgery from a preseason injury; Marco Scandella is on LTIR; and five players including veterans Anthony Angello and Matthew Peca are on SOIR.

Columbus remains without Patrik Laine and Joonas Korpisalo. They are fresh of their 5-2 loss last evening against Tampa Bay, making this their first back-to-back contest of the 22-23 campaign.

Quick Notes on Tampa Bay Loss

1. Steven Stamkos with 2. Mikhail Sergachev should’ve had the other he did all the work on the play. Linemate Brayden Point was my player to watch, and was held to only one shot in 17:48 time on ice.

2. Corey Perry, Ross Colton, and Cal Foote had the other goals for their first recorded goal of the regular season each.

3. Johnny Gaudreau gets his first as a Columbus Blue Jacket. It is his 211th career goal, and it’s the second straight game where Columbus has scored first. Danforth and Jenner got their first assists of the season.

4. Gustav Nyquist’s goal was his first of the season; 34th as a Blue Jacket; and 165th of his career. Erik Gubdranson got the secondary assist to earn his first point as a Columbus Blue Jacket, his 95th career point.

5. Kent Johnson, my Columbus player to watch, got the primary assist on the Nyquist goal. That puts him at 4 assists in 10 career NHL games. Small sample size, but his points per game average is 0.4.

6. Daniil Tarasov started his second straight game as Elvis Merzlikins remains out with illness, and had 34 saves on 39 shots for a 0.872 save percentage. He played small in the net, and that is concerning for a young 6’ 5” tall goaltender.

Projected Lineups

St. Louis Blues (per Lou Korac)

Pavel Buchnevich—Robert Thomas—Vladimir Tarasenko
Brandon Saad—Ryan O’Reilly—Jordan Kyrou
Jake Neighbours—Brayden Schenn—Ivan Barbashev
Nathan Walker—Noel Acciari—Josh Levio

Nick Leddy—Colton Parayko
Torey Krug—Justin Faulk
Nikko Mikkola—Robert Bortuzzo

Jordan Binnington
Thomas Greiss

Injured — Scott Perunovich, Marco Scandella, Matthew Peca, Anthony Angello

Columbus Blue Jackets (per Jeff Svoboda)

Johnny Gaudreau—Boone Jenner—Justin Danforth
Yegor Chinakov —Jack Roslovic—Jakub Voracek
Gustav Nyquist —Cole Sillinger—Kent Johnson
Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Matheiu Oliver

Zach Werenski—Adam Boqvist
Vladislav Gavrikov—Andrew Peeke
Jake Bean—Erik Gudbranson

Daniil Tarasov
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratched — Nick Blankenburg, Liam Foudy
Injured — Joonas Korpisalo, Patrik Laine, Joona Luoto

Players to Watch

St. Louis — Ryan O’Reilly — the captain of the Blues is in the final year of his deal and will need to spark his team in their first game of the season.

Columbus — Johnny Gaudreau — after scoring his first goal last night against Tampa Bay, he is the key to their offense against a fresh Blues team.