The Columbus Blue Jackets Need A Fast Start

Up next is a team in the same position as the Blue Jackets, former push overs, but a team currently on the rise. The Blue Jackets have to travel to the Nassau Coliseum to face the New York Islanders. It will be their first Eastern Conference tilt, as well as first division game.

Sep 21, 2013; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders center

(91) carries the puck during the first period against the New Jersey Devils at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Fresh off of their playoff berth in the shortened 2012-2013 season, the Islanders should give the Columbus Blue Jackets a much better test than the home opener did. Evgeni Nabokov will test the Blue Jackets offense, and the newly appointed captain John Tavares should be a test that the defense and Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t see the night before.

These two teams finished last season with the exact same record 24-17-7, however the Islanders made the playoffs while the Blue Jackets did not. The Blue Jackets are the team that got better over the off-season, and proved last season they learned how to win on the road. I see this being a hard-fought game, but I will have to give this one to the Blue Jackets.

Prediction: CBJ 3  NYI 2