Columbus Blue Jackets: David Clarkson to make debut

Sep 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing David Clarkson (23) checks St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (22) during the second period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight our Boys in Blue will host someone else’s Boys in Blue for the second game in an all Canuck (the derogatory term for a Canadian, not the team) home stand. The last one went disastrously from a goal’s for/against perspective with Columbus falling 7-3 against the Senators. Despite that rotten score-line The Blue Jackets actually played reasonable well, out-shooting the Sens 41-27. As I wrote about yesterday if they can keep controlling possession and generating scoring chances, the results will turn around.

Fortunately tonight presents an excellent opportunity for that to start happening. The other Boys in Blue mentioned above are none other than the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team whose record currently stands at 0-3-1, and unlike the Blue Jackets there’s nothing to suggest that record is undeserved.

Interestingly former Leaf David Clarkson will be making his first appearance of the season tonight. He’ll be playing RW on the fourth line alongside Matt Calvert, and Gregory Campbell. This will be just the fourth game for Clarkson since he was traded to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Nathan Horton late last season. I don’t want to get to negative on Clarkson because his flaws have been illustrated to death the last few years, but I do live in Toronto and have seen the misery he can bring to a Fanbase. With any luck he won’t be too terrible, expectations are much lower here than they were with the Leafs so maybe he’ll relax a little and his game will improve.

Aside from that there doesn’t appear to be to much of a shift in the way the lineup will be set tonight. Nick Foligno will be back on the top line while Boone Jenner move back down to the third. I’m not sure if that was just a match-up Richards liked against Ottawa or if it was an experiment he decided went wrong, either way the line up is back to normal now.

BLUE JACKETS

Brandon Saad – Ryan Johansen – Nick Foligno

Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Cam Atkinson

Scott Hartnell – William Karlsson – Rene Bourque

Matt Calvert – Gregory Campbell – David Clarkson

Jack Johnson – David Savard

Ryan Murray – Cody Goloubef

Fedor Tyutin – Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

Curtis McElhinney

MAPLE LEAFS

James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Leo Komarov