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Columbus Blue Jackets: First Meeting with Pittsburgh of 2017-2018

By William Espy

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 18: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets prepares to stop a shot from Patric Hornqvist #72 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 18, 2017 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 18: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets prepares to stop a shot from Patric Hornqvist #72 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 18, 2017 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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The Columbus Blue Jackets will face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time since the first round of last season’s playoffs Friday. Although it is only preseason, expect this to be an emotional and physical hockey game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets tweeted out the lineup for Friday’s game, and it is certainly an interesting one. Nearly every player is on the bubble for a roster spot with the only exceptions being Nick Foligno, Lukas Sedlak, David Savard, and Sergei Bobrovsky. The most interesting cases will be Zac Dalpe, Vitaly Abramov, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, as the next round of cuts are sure to be nearing.

The Penguins forward lines are fairly similar to the Blue Jackets in terms of bubble players. Greg McKegg is looking to make an impression to earn a permanent role in the NHL. Daniel Sprong is trying to make a case for himself to be able to stick in the NHL and play alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

The Blue Jackets forward corps is made mostly out of skill players with little physicality, however they have just the right number of physical players to balance it out. Tortorella may relay to the coaching staff on the bench to reunite Dubois and Abramov if they begin to struggle to start the game.

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According to the Penguins website, it appears that Antti Niemi will be starting in goal for Pittsburgh. Across from him will be reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

I expect this to be a fairly high scoring game, as Niemi has struggled the past few years in Dallas; it is also Sergei Bobrovsky’s first start of the preseason. My prediction for the final score would be 4-3 in overtime, with no particular prediction for the winning team.

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