NEWS
The next time an NHL player wonders whether he has an impact on people, he should consider the case of Mason Krieger, a six-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio, who has been in speech therapy most of his life but speaks in cogent and complete sentences when he talks about the Columbus Blue Jackets. The day after Matt Duchene scored in double overtime in Game 2 of the Blue Jackets’ second-round series against the Boston Bruins, Mason and his father, Marty, went to a local rink to do a video recreation of the goal, right down to the part where Duchene slid across the ice on his knees in celebration.
The way Pierre-Luc Dubois figured, his decision to spend $3,000 on a bottle of Louis XIII cognac last summer was a pretty wise investment. You know how quarterbacks take their offensive linemen out for dinner or send them on vacations? That’s kind of what this was like. After all, Dubois had just made an extra $425,000 in bonus money in the first year of his contract and wanted to show his appreciation for the person most responsible for helping him earn it. Dubois had three goals when Artemi Panarin became his linemate, and Dubois ended his rookie season with 20. So he stroked a check for three large and gave it to teammate Seth Jones, who purchased the elixir because Dubois was too young to do it himself. He still is.
The Blue Jackets have been rocked with injuries over the last few weeks. It started with just the injury to veteran defensemen Erik Gudbranson. Unfortunately, now it has gotten worse and has now impacted four other players for a total of five players. Which includes Sean Monahan who hurt himself in last night's game against the New Jersey Devils.
When it comes to scoring goals, historically the Jackets defensive corps hasn't been very good. But in the last few seasons, Zach Werenski has taken his game to another level, both offensively and defensively. Werenski is the all-time franchise leader in career assists, and 5th in career goals.
They have recalled Luca Del Bel Belluz on an emergency basis. In a corresponding move, they placed Mathieu Olivier on injured reserve (IR) retroactive to November 24. Olivier is out of the lineup with an upper body injury that he suffered against the Washington Capitals.
Vanek, originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 2003, was traded to Columbus on February 26th, 2018, in exchange for Jussi Jokinen and Tyler Motte. He played in 19 games for Columbus, scored 7 goals and totaled 15 points. He also scored a hat trick against Edmonton for Columbus that season.
Pinelli, 20 was called up on November 25 as part of an emergency recall. During that time, he played in three games, including his NHL debut against his boyhood team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
GAME PREVIEWS & RECAPS
The Blue Jackets must find a way to get points in every game. They had a not-so-great November by going 5-5-5. Somehow, though, they're only six points back of Jersey, and could make up ground tonight. In fact, had they not blown so many leads, they could actually be sitting up top with New Jersey in the Metro.
Last night's game turned into an MMA brawl, with a little bit of hockey thrown in for good measure. The story of this game was the second period when everything went sideways. There were 4 fights and 63 penalty minutes handed out. Jonas Siegenthaler, who fought Adam Fantilli, was given a game misconduct because his jersey wasn't properly secured, allowing it to come off. He was booted from the game, in what turned out to be a rare penalty.
Detroit comes into Columbus having gone 4-4-2 in their last 10 games and are losers of 4 of their last 5. They did win their last game against the Bruins on Tuesday, however.
The Red Wings beat the Jackets back on November 22nd when Columbus blew a 3-1 third-period lead. They then lost the game 1:50 into the overtime period.
The two teams combined for six goals in the second period, five of which were power-play goals. Dmitri Voronkov took a double minor for high-sticking 7:52 into the second and then took a two-minute minor for high-sticking with 25 seconds left in the period. The Wings scored on all three penalties to put the score at 4-3 going into the third period.
Dean Evason: Head Coach
- Happy that they got the extra attacker but not thrilled that they got there in the first place
- Mentioned that he is happy with how the team has done in the shootout
- Happy to see Kent Johnson score, so was the team
- Went with a three man defensemen set up largely because of Zach Werenski
- Feels the team got a boost with the return of Marchenko
- Feels the team is as tight as he has ever seen, especially the Metro
- Believes it has something to do with the condensed schedule
- Feels that this season shows just how great the league is and how great the players are
Blue Jackets Stats
- Power Play - 18.8% - 16th in the NHL
- Penalty Kill - 71.8% - 30th in the NHL
- Goals For - 80 - 20th in the NHL
- Goals Against - 89 - 20th in the NHL
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