Breaking — Vladislav Gavrikov is out with an undisclosed injury; Daniil Tarasov placed on IR; Jet Greaves was recalled from Cleveland on an emergency basis

Joonas Korpsialo is a healthy scratch v Tampa.

Sigh

For the final time of the 2022-2023 NHL regular season, the Columbus Blue Jackets will be traveling to the state of Florida to do battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning from Amalie Arena. Only exception is Johnny Gaudreau. He will be back in Florida as he is the Blue Jackets' NHL All-Star representative. Gametime is at 7pm from Bally Sports Ohio.

The Lightning have already won the season series, defeating the Blue Jackets in their home opener; and last month in western Florida. The series is 9-3 for the 2022 Eastern Conference Champions.

Tampa Bay is always a contender, doesn't matter their place in the standings. They draft elite talent, develop them, and they come up to be successful in the NHL.

The main story out of Tampa Bay is Steven Stamkos is two goals away from 500 NHL career goals.

The main sorry out of Columbus is the success of young forwards Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, and Emil Bemstrom.

Marchenko has 4 goals in his last 5 games; KJ has two assists in his last 3; and Bemstrom has a goal and 3 assists in his last 5. The kids are producing and stepping up while the veterans are struggling and the best are injured.

With the lineup, Adam Boqvist is expected to be a healthy scratch for his third consecutive game. He has 2 points in his last 5 games after only playing 4 previous due to injury. Carson Meyer is also to be the spare forward on the sideline. Elvis Merzlikins will most likely get the go in between the pipes.

Projected Lineups

Tampa Bay Lightning

Brandon Hagel--Brayden Point--Nikita Kucherov
Anthony Cirelli--Steven Stamkos--Alex Killorn
Ross Colton--Nick Paul--Patrick Maroon
Vladislav Namestinkov--Pierre-Edouard Bellemare--Corey Perry

Mikhail Sergachev--Nicklaus Perbix
Ian Cole--Erik Cernak
Haydn Fleury--Cal Foote

Brian Elliott
Andrei Vaslievsky

Scratched: Zach Bogosian

Injured: Victor Hedman, Brent Seabrook, Rudolfs Balcers

Columbus Blue Jackets

Johnny Gaudreau--Kent Johnson--Emil Bemstrom
Gustav Nyquist--Jack Roslovic--Patrik Laine
E Carson Meyer--Cole Sillinger--Kirill Marchenko
Eric Robinson--Sean Kuraly--Mathieu Olivier

Andrew Peeke—Marcus Bjork
Tim Breni--Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther--Adam Boqvist

Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves

Scratched -- Carson Meyer, Joonas Korpisalo

Injured -- Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Jake Bean, Justin Danforth, Daniil Tarasov, Yegor Chinakov, Nick Blankenburg, Vladislav Gavrikov


Players to Watch

Tampa Bay -- Nikita Kucherov -- the Bolts' All Star representative has 55 points in 38 games this season. The Russian winger 3 assists in 2 games against Columbus this season.

Columbus -- Kirill Marchenko -- in this Russian v Russian matchup, the rookie has a goal every other game pace, and a hattrick in the 2023 calendar year.

Predicted Final Score

TBL - 4
CBJ - 2

Thoughts ? More to come...

Fans: Please don't forget to follow me on Twitter @ZakMacBuzz

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