The Columbus Blue Jackets had a rough go of it the last time they took the ice. They were almost always a step behind the Red Wings, and it showed, with the end result being a 5-0 defeat at home. Tonight, the boys will once again defend Nationwide Arena as they welcome in one of the Eastern Conference powers over the past half decade in the Boston Bruins.
The injury bug has hit Boston, although not quite as hard as it has the CBJ (no team in history, seemingly, has had it hit quite like the CBJ), and they’ll be without the services of Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard (who, at this point, is expected to miss all of the season) and could be without Brad Marchand, who’s questionable coming into puck drop. The Bruins have split their last four games, but come in on a two game winning streak, a 2-1 win over Carolina and a 2-0 win over St. Louis.
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As a matter of fact, the Bruins have had some trouble scoring the puck as of late. The two wins just mentioned they only scored twice, and in the two previous loses they were only able to score once in each game (while allowing more than five in both contests).
Tuukka Raskthe usual starter for Boston, has allowed just 34 goals of the 400+ shots he’s faced this season, a GAA of 2.38, and is coming off the shutout over the Blues. Luckily, it’ll be an off day for Rask, and the Jackets will go up against
who’s only played in seven games this year and has a 2-3 record.
Columbus, as stated earlier and by the players after the loss to Detroit, played a step – maybe even multiple steps – behind the Red Wings on Tuesday night, but didn’t the whole game. The first period actually proved to be fairly promising for the Jackets, but after the disallowed goal scored by Boone Jenner, it seemed to be on the minds of the guys too much and they could never recover.
But, today is a new day, and the Blue Jackets need more wins to make up for their losing streak and sit in a decent place come the turn of the calender to December. Do you have any predictions for tonight? Let us know in a comment below, or on twitter @UnionandBlue.