The Columbus Blue Jackets conclude their two game road trip with a vital matchup for playoff hope on the Island inside UBS Arena. The Jackets and Islanders collide for the final time from Queens, New York and faceoff for the first time in two months.
Since they last met, the Islanders added Anthony DeAngelo from the KHL; dealt Brock Nelson to Colorado; dumped Oliver Kylington; acquired Scott Perunovich; and swapped Dennis Cholowski for Adam Beckman.
The Islanders have jumped ahead of the Blue Jackets in the standings since the deadline, and are one win away from shared possession of the precious second and final wild card spot with the Montreal Canadiens.
Columbus has been an abysmal 2-7-1 in their last 10 and an atrocious 11-20-4 on the road this season. Boston, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh also have 11 wins at home, and they’re all unlikely to make the postseason. A regulation win would tie the Jackets and Islanders in the standings; an overtime win would tie the Islanders with the Rangers. A loss and a Detroit win would put Detroit over Columbus in standings. A loss and a Detroit overtime loss would tie the Wings and Jackets.
The Jackets also welcome back former Flames’ and Johnny Gaudreau teammates Sean Monahan and Erik Gudbranson to the lineup tonight on the march to the playoffs. Monahan has been out since January 7; Gudbranson has been missing since October 15 from shoulder surgery.
Jake Christiansen and Daniil Tarasov are out injured. Jack Johnson, Jordan Harris, and Christian Fischer are the spares; Elvis Merzlikins will start and Jet Greaves will backup.
Keys to Victory
1. Shake it Off! Time to find the scoring touch that was there all season
2. Special Teams — the Islanders have some of the worst team special teams’ stats in the powerplay and penalty kill. Get them down a man and capitulate.
3. 11 and 7 — former Blue Jackets’ Anthony Duclair and Adam Boqvist are playing forward; meanwhile, Mike Reilly will be the on the bottom pair.
Projected Lineups
New York Islanders
Simon Holmstrom -- Bo Horvat -- Kyle Palmieri
Anders Lee -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Anthony Duclair
Pierre Engvall -- Casey Cizikas -- Adam Boqvist
Maxim Tsyplakov -- Kyle MacLean -- Marc Gatcomb
Alexander Romanov -- Tony DeAngelo
Adam Pelech -- Noah Dobson
Mike Reilly -- Ryan Pulock
Ilya Sorokin
Marcus Hogberg
Scratched: Scott Perunovich, Matt Martin, Scott Mayfield
Kent Johnson -- Sean Monahan -- Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner -- Adam Fantilli -- Yegor Chinakov
Zach Aston-Reese -- Justin Danforth -- Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk -- Sean Kuraly -- Luke Kunin
Zach Werenski -- Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov -- Damon Severson
Denton Mateychuk -- Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves
Scratched: Jordan Harris, Christian Fischer, Jack Johnson
New York — Noah Dobson — 2 goals and 5 assists in his previous 5 games. Per Spencer Lazar of The Hockey News, Columbus; Detroit; Montreal; Vancouver; and St. Louis were interested in him at some point this season.
Columbus — Kent Johnson — KJ has one goal in his previous 5; but his highlight career goal is the Michigan against the Isles. Will we see some magic from #91 as he looks for his first career 50-point season?
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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