Another night back at the rink, and the Columbus Blue Jackets do their final duel with the Montreal Canadiens at the Nationwide Arena, in their usual 7:00pm start time.

Columbus has not played a game since Saturday night in Detroit, giving the new guys a chance a practice and the rest of the roster an opportunity to breathe before the final stretch of games to the end of the regular season. There are 9 games in the last 16 days of the regular season, preventing top prospect Kent Johnson to burn a year of his entry level eligibility. Johnson joins captain Nick Blankenburg from Michigan to sign contracts with the Blue Jackets, following their loss to the eventual champions: the University of Denver.

Montreal is in the dumpster. However, the future is bright. If a team can get a rebuild going, it is President Jeff Gorton after his turnaround to the New York Rangers and developing the pieces with the Boston Bruins. Gorton and Columbus President John Davidson both had their hands on the Rangers’ build, with the additions in Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafereniere, and Kappo Kakko on the offense; Adam Fox on the defense; and the patience of the Bela/Russian goalies.

They have stockpiled their picks, in the deals for Toffoli, Chariot, Lehkonnen, and Kulak. With the rumors of the rest of the earth being scorched, there is lots of time for this to be done right in Montreal. Additionally, this is the right time with the top prospects in Wright, Mitchkov, and Berdard looming in the next two drafts.

Nick Suzuki has more points than his own team, with 55 to 51 being the distance. He has had 4 points in his last 3 games— 1 goal, 3 assists. Cole Caufield is the current poster child for this rebuild, literally and figuratively. Caufield was being sent down to Laval under previous management, and now has 30 points in the last 29 games played. Caufield is an elite goal scorer, and is going to be who the club builds around offensively.

Without Price, Weber, Danault, and Kotkniemi all season since their offseason departures, every department has been weakened. Jake Allen has a 9-20-4 record with a 3.30 GAA and a 0.905 save percentage; Samuel Montembault has a 7-15-6 with a 3.59 GAA and a 0.896 save percentage. Former Jacket and Stanley Cup winner David Savard joins other vets in Petry, Gallagher, Dvorak, Drouin, and Hoffman with having down seasons; the only one with an up is Josh Anderson, the former Jackets power forward.

They are in the fight for Wright at the bottom of the standings. In the two teams previous meetings, the Candiens have been doubled in goal scoring, 8-4.

Projected Lineups

Montreal Canadiens

Remi Pitlick—Nick Suzuki—Cole Caufield
Mike Hoffman—Jake Evans—Josh Anderson
Brendan Gallagher—Christian Dvorak—Joel Armia
Paul Byron—Ryan Phoeling—Jesse Ylonen

Joel Edmundsson—Jeff Petry
Alex Romanov—David Savard
Jordan Harris—Cory Schuennean

Samuel Montembault
Cayden Primeau

Scratched—
Injured— Jonathan Drouin, Shea Weber, Carey Price, Jake Allen


Columbus Blue Jackets

Gustav Nyquist—Jack Roslovic—Patrik Laine
Kent Johnson—Justin Danforth—Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jakub Voracek—Cole Sillinger—Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson—Brendan Gaunce—Carson Meyer

Zach Werenski—Andrew Peeke
Vladislav Gavrikov—Adam Boqvist
Jake Bean— Nick Blankenburg

Elvis Merzlikins
Jean-Francois Berube

Scratched— Gabriel Carlsson, Gavin Bayreuther, Jake Christiansen
Injured— Boone Jenner, Yegor Chinakov, Nathan Gerbe, Daniil Tarasov, Joonas Korpisalo, Alexandre Texier, Sean Kuraly

Players to Watch:

Montreal — F Brendan Gallagher — the veteran forward has another 5 years remaining on his contract with a cap hit at $6.5M. Gallagher is on a career low bender with the team that drafted him in 2010, having just 19 points in 47 games. 6 goals is a career low. 13 assist ties his rookie year in his second lowest season total for his long career in Centre Bell. 63 PIM is the most penalty minutes since his sophomore season, where he had 73. His size and style are player allure Columbus, as he is prime player with term on his contract, and isn’t afraid to get in the corners for the puck. He is to watch with the club’s eyes on him per Eklund. His eyes have been on him since before the 2022 Trade Deadline.

Columbus— F Kent Johnson— the fifth overall selection from the 2021 draft, the rookie gets his first career NHL game in the history books against the Montreal Canadiens. With the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA, the 19-year old had 37 points in 32 games (8 goals, 29 assists) with a +25 rating. At the Olympic Games for Canada, Johnson had 5 points in 5 games (1 goal, 4 assists) before being bounced in the quarterfinals. In 2 games at the COVID shortened World Juniors in Edmonton, he had a goal.


Thoughts? More to come…

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