The Columbus Blue Jackets are on game three of four of their January road trip as they clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time at the Scotibank Arena this season.

Columbus and Toronto faced off a few months ago as Columbus crushed the Leafs 6-2.

Toronto comes into tonight on a three game winning streak, and the leaders of the Atlantic Division. The Maple Leafs have bested three teams in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, including Tampa and Montreal who are both flirting with the wild card and third place Atlantic division spots.

Toronto and Columbus have one more matchup in April just before postseason games. The Leafs are looking to be buyers for a third line center and a veteran defender. They did just lose out on John Klingberg, who missed most of last season with the Leafs with a hip injury.

Toronto has been dealing with the injury bug off and on all season: Anthony Stolarz, who is on my fantasy team, remains out until February. Calle Jarnkrok; Jani Hakanpaa; and Jake McCabe also remain out. Max Paccioretty and Connor Dewar have also been ruled out. Dennis Hildeby, who was in net for the loss in October, is expected to start for the home squad.

The Leafs are reportedly looking at Ryan O’Reilly; Brock Nelson; Yanni Gourde; and Scott Mayfield.

Former Leafs James van Riemsdyk and Zach Aston-Reese are back in Toronto.

The buzz the last day or so the reporting of Rick Diwali of the Athletic linking Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser to the Columbus Blue Jackets, whether it is by trade before the deadline or via free agency. Waddell is reportedly a fan, and rumor is the Jackets may have the right pieces for a return for an impact winger. This may also help promote the Navy Federal Stadium Series on March 1 at the Buckeye Stadium with guest performers OAR and Twenty One Pilots.

Columbus is coming in off back to back losses to the New York metro teams. The Jackets are also without Denton Mateychuk for this game due to illness. Jordan Harris is expected to step in for the ill Mateychuk. With Justin Danforth back in the mix, Kevin Labanc is expected to be the extra forward Elvis Merzlikins was injured in practice this morning; expect Daniil Tarasov to start.

Keys to Win

1. Core Four — the Columbus defense needs to shut down the core four of forwards as Matthews and Marner have been red hot to start the new year.
2. Third String — Columbus bested the Leafs’ goalie in October, they have to do it again to stay in the race
3. Push the Offense — The Jackets team has had a higher ranked offense than the Leafs all season, let the goals fly.

Projected Lineups

Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann -- Pontus Holmberg -- William Nylander
Max Domi -- Fraser Minten -- Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz -- David Kampf -- Ryan Reaves

Morgan Rielly -- Jake McCabe
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Conor Timmins

Dennis Hildeby
Joseph Woll

Scratched: Phillippe Myers, Jacob Quillan

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (lower body), John Tavares (lower body), Max Pacioretty (upper body), Connor Dewar (upper body)


Columbus Blue Jackets

Dmitri Voronkov -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko
James van Riemsdyk -- Cole Sillinger -- Kent Johnson
Zach Aston-Reese -- Luca Del Bel Belluz -- Mathieu Olivier
Mikael Pyyhtia -- Sean Kuraly -- Justin Danforth

Zach Werenski -- Dante Fabbro
Damon Severson -- Ivan Provorov
Jake Christensen -- Jordan Harris

Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Jack Johnson, Kevin Labanc

Injured: Sean Monahan (wrist), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Denton Mateychuk (illness)

Players to Watch

Toronto — Mitch Marner — he is on my opponent’s fantasy team this week. While remaining hot with a goal and 7 assists in his last five, he is still in search for a contract extension.

Columbus — James van Riemsdyk — while being two goals away from his 15th 10-goal season, the former Leaf almost returned here this summer before management chose Patches.

Predicted Final Score

TOR — 4

CBJ — 5

Gambling Corner

The Maple Leafs are heavy favorites at -205.

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