The Columbus Blue Jackets have their final game at Nationwide Arena in the month of February with their second and final meeting with the Dallas Stars at 7pm from Fan Duel Sports Network Ohio and Victory+. 4 Days away from Stadiun Series at Buckeye Stadium.
Columbus and Dallas met February 2nd in a 5-3 loss for the Jackets on their third road game in four days. Forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci made their debuts for the Stars in that game after a trade with San Jose the day before.
Forwards Mason Marchment, Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Evgenii Dadonov (2) had the Dallas goals; Columbus had goals from forwards Cole Sillinger and Dmitri Voronkov and defenseman Ivan Provorov.
Former Columbus forward Matt Duchene had found himself in an increased role this season with the injury to Tyler Seguin and the chemistry had with veterans Jamie Benn and Mason Marchment mixed with the young core offense. Duchene had 10 points in his previous 5 games, 59 in 57 on the year.
Dallas had several skaters in the Four Nations tournament, including Roope Hintz; Mikael Granlund; Miro Heskianen (injured); and Jake Otteinger.
Columbus only had Zach Werenski, who led all skaters in points with 6 in 4 games.
Dallas will sub Stankonven in for Back; Otter gets the crease.
Columbus has Sean Monahan, Erik Gudbranson, and Yegor Chinakov on the ice for practice. Elvis gets the go ahead, and Evason is keeping the same roster that got the win against Chicago.
Keys to Victory
1. Play to the Whistle — match the lines between the whistles and wear them down over the game. Roll all the lines
2. Puck Luck — Dallas dominates in every way, a bounce will help the Jackets tonight.
3. Powerplay — the extra man may benefit the Jackets, draw them into making mistakes. Columbus is 16th on the PP; Dallas is 20th.
Projected Lineups
Dallas Stars
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Mavrik Bourque
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov
Logan Stankoven -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Cody Ceci
Esa Lindell -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Brendan Smith -- Matt Dumba
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Oskar Back
Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Tyler Seguin (hip), Lian Bichsel (concussion)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner -- Cole Sillinger -- Kent Johnson
Zach Aston-Reese -- Justin Danforth -- Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk -- Sean Kuraly -- Joseph LaBate
Injured: Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Sean Monahan (wrist)
Players to Watch
Dallas — Thomas Harley — Team Canada replacement with the injuries to the defense has shined as the top defender in Dallas with the injury bug impacting Miro Heskianen. 30 points and a +29 in 55 games this season.
Columbus — Zach Werenski — point streak watch continues on as the defender could hit 23 consecutive games this evening.
Predicted Final Score
DAL — 5
CBJ — 2
Gambling Corner
Dallas is a -192 and comes into tonight 8-1-1 in their last 10 and on a 3 game win streak. Columbus won their last game, but is 18-6-4 at home and is a +160.
Rumors
After Ek promoted my post to the top slot over the weekend, this will be posted daily with my Twitter promotion of who may join and depart Columbus. Rumor Mill
F Brock Boeser (VAN)
CBJ, MIN
F Elias Pettersson (VAN)
BUF, CAR, DET, MIN, DAL, OTT, CBJ, BOS
F Brock Nelson (NYI)
MIN, DAL, BOS, TOR, COL, WPG, CBJ, WSH,
F Brandon Tanev (SEA)
TOR, WSH, NYR, VGK, OTT, CBJ,
F Gustav Nyquist (NSH) per Michael DeRosa
CBJ, NYR, OTT, CAR, FLA, COL
F Dylan Cozens (BUF)
Per Josh Erickson of ProHockeyRumors and Spencer Lazary of THN — CBJ
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