Columbus Blue Jackets Close Out Season Series With Panthers
By Grant Miller
The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Florida Panthers Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. The game will be the third and final game between these two teams in the regular season. The Jackets have not beaten the Panthers this season. Columbus will look to avoid being swept Thursday night.
The Columbus Blue Jackets return home Thursday night after two games on the road and a couple of days off. The extra day of rest will come in handy as the grueling stretch of games though March carries on. The Jackets still face four more pairs of back-to-back games and eight games against Metropolitan Division opponents. The Florida Panthers are not currently in playoff position but sit six points out of the second wild card spot. A desperate team will be visiting Columbus tonight, ensuring no point can be guaranteed this time of the season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Keeping Pace
A win Thursday night against the Panthers will go a long way in the Jackets quest for the Presidents’ Trophy. The Washington Capitals have lost four of their last five, and take on the Nashville Predators tonight. The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost two games in a row and remain just a point ahead of the CBJ. A Jackets win tonight and a Capitals loss would bring Columbus within a point of the top spot in the NHL.
Returning to Health
The Columbus Blue Jackets have received a stretch of good news recently on the injury front. Lukas Sedlak skated with the team at practice Wednesday, and has been activated off injured reserve. Sedlak has been out since Feb. 17 with an oblique strain. Sedlak will not dress tonight, but his return is imminent. Captain Nick Foligno will start Thursday after missing Monday’s win in Philadelphia due to illness. Monday’s game saw the return of both Matt Calvert and Josh Anderson, who had both missed time with injuries.
Previous Matchups
The Florida Panthers have had the Jackets’ number this season. The first meeting came way back in November and was the last loss for the Blue Jackets before they embarked on their historic 16-game win streak. That game was won in a shootout. Goaltender Roberto Luongo bested Sergei Bobrovsky while Jaromir Jagr scored the lone regulation time goal for the Panthers. The previous bout between these two teams was a hard-fought 4-3 win for the Panthers. Joonas Korpisalo was in net for the CBJ after starting and winning the previous night’s affair.
Related Story: Columbus Blue Jackets deadline review: Two weeks later
What to Expect Tonight
Bobrovsky will be in net tonight looking to secure his 38th win on the season. I fully expect Jagr to score against the Jackets because it seems like he always does, and I expect the rest of the Panthers to be annoying and keep the game interesting all the way until the final horn sounds. That said, with an almost fully healthy line up and a return to home ice, I see the Jackets skating off the ice tonight victorious. Nationwide will be rocking tonight as we creep closer to the playoffs and that will certainly help.