The Columbus Blue Jackets get their first road game of November in the District of Columbia to contend with the Washington Capitals. Puckdrop is at 7pm from the Capital One Arena on Bally Sports.

With covering Washington in the preseason, I will not be doing an offseason transactions breakdown this time.

The Capitals are now in a difficult situation as center Nicklas Backstrom has announced he is stepping away from the game of hockey due to his medical issues (hip). It’s sounding like maybe it’s the beginning of the end for the Stanley Cup winner. The Swede will sorely be missed on the Caps’ offense that can’t quite seem to find their identity.

Washington has also been in the news with Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Boston as allowing players to wear neck guards after the tragedy for Adam Johnson. Tom Wilson and TJ Oshie both have committed to wearing them in recent practices.

Columbus has been in the headlines lately but for trade rumor purposes. Kent Johnson has been sent to the minors and made his AHL debut last night, putting up two assists in a loss against the Providence Bruins. Yegor Chinakov has been recalled as a result to be the spare forward.

This comes days after the player switched agencies to join Seth Jones and Pierre-Luc Dubois, two recent Columbus players that were moved in big player trades. Jones brought back Sillinger, Bean, Boqvist, and Jiricek. Dubois brought back Laine and Roslovic.

GM Kekalainen is setting up a power move against a struggling pending RFA through HC Vincent and burying him in the AHL. KJ needs pro reps and mins on the ice. He’s a top 5 pick. He should be with Adam Fantilli in the top 6 on this team, jabbing for the top center spot.

One first round victory in ten years is not winning. Young players like Johansen, Anderson, Domi, Jones, and Dubois all were moved for controllable prospects and less money, and this team has missed the players.

If I’m a Columbus homer, I question what this management staff is doing to burn the young players when they are not playing them.

Tonight is the the night we also see the first year of David Jiricek’s contract be burned through entry level. Averaging 13:43… a defender at 13 minutes a night? Over Boqvist and Peeke? What is the staff doing?

Peeke and Boqvist combine for $4.35M in the press box for 0 points and a -3 in 3 games. Why not play them to get them going and have Jiricek in the AHL playing 25-27 minutes a night?

Columbus is coming off a previous home victory on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, snapping a four game losing streak (0-2-2).

CBJ PG10 v Tampa Bay - Secondary Scoring

The Columbus Blue Jackets power back with a three goal third period to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning by the final score of 4-2 at Nationwide Arena.

Period I

Kirill Marchenko opened the scoring with his first of the season. Dmitry Vokornov and Cole Sillinger had the assists on the play.

Period II

Tampa captain Steven Stamkos evens the game with his fourth of the season unassisted.

Connor Sheary got the other Bolts’ goal for his first as a Lightning from Stammer and Eric Cernak.

Period III

Columbus captain Booooone Jenner evened the game once again for his fifth of the year. Zach Werenski and Damon Severson had the assists.

The game winning goal came from Erik Gudbranson for his first of the season. Emil Bemstrom and Adam Fantilli got the assists.

The icing on the cake came from a Johnny Gaudreau empty net goal for his first of the campaign. Ivan Provorov and Jenner had the helpers.

Matt Tomkins had 24 saves on 27 shots faced for a 0.889 save percentage.

Steven Stamkos was my player to watch admits his end of contract with the Lightning, having a multipoint game. The captain is at 10 points in 8 games with his team.

Cole Sillinger has yet to score a goal since the jersey swap but did earn a secondary assist getting him at 4 points in 10 games on the season.

Elvis stopped 27 of 29 shots for a 0.931 one of his best nights.

CBJ THREE STARS OF THE GAME

1. Erik Gudbranson - GWG (1) +3 18:16 TOI

2. Boone Jenner - goal (5), assist (2), +2, 1 minor and hit

3. Elvis Merzlikins - 27 saves, Win

Columbus is seeking its first road win against the Eastern Conference, their second of the year. This begins the second set of 10 games when divided by 8, with the extra two left over. They need to step up and compete with the top of the Metro when the aging teams in Pittsburgh and Washington are collapsing.

Projected Lineups

Washington Capitals

Alexander Ovechkin—Dylan Strome—Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano—Evgney Kuznetsov—TJ Oshie
Anthony Mantha—Connor McMichael—Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn—Hendrix Lappiere—Matthew Phillips

Martin Fehervary—John Carlsson
Rasmus Sandin—Trevor van Riemsdyk
Alexander Alexeyev—Nick Jensen

Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched - Lucas Johansen, Hardy Haman Aktell
Injured — Nicklas Backstrom, Nic Dowd, Max Pacioretty, Joel Edmundson


Columbus Blue Jackets

Johnny Gaudreau—Boone Jenner—Jack Roslovic
Alexandre Texier—Adam Fantilli—Emil Bemstrom
Dmitry Vokornov—Cole Sillinger—Kirill Marchenko
Justin Danforth—Sean Kuraly—Mathieu Olivier

Zach Werenski—Damon Severson
Ivan Provorov—David Jiricek
Jake Bean—Erik Gubdranson

Elvis Merzlikins
Spencer Martin

Scratched — Yegor Chinakov, Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke

Injured — Daniil Tarasov, Patrik Laine

Players to Watch

Washington — Ovi — only thing worth watching despite his early struggles

Columbus — Marchenko — only one goal is not enough for the sophomore

Predicted Final Score

WSH — 3

CBJ — 5

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