The Columbus Blue Jackets are back in action for the third time in four days as they visit the New Jersey Devils. It will be the first trip back to New Jersey for recently acquired defensemen Kyle Quincey.
It’s a short turnaround for the homecoming of defensemen Kyle Quincey as he and the Columbus Blue Jackets head to Newark, New Jersey to face the New Jersey Devils. These teams will meet two more times before the end of the season–On Tuesday in Columbus and once more back in New Jersey on Mar. 19. The Blue Jackets finish off a back-to-back returning from a tough 3-2 loss on the road against the Ottawa Senators last night.
The Blue Jackets (40-17-6) are still clinging to the second place standing in the Metropolitan division, tied for points with the Pittsburgh Penguins (39-16-8). Tonight’s game has big implications in the standings as the Penguins host the Buffalo Sabres.
Last Ten
The Blue Jackets are on a bit of skid as they are 6-3-1 in their last ten. Half of those games came before the five-day break, half of them after. They looked really good coming out of the extended rest period, routing the New York Islanders 7-0 and the New York Rangers 5-2 in their first games back. However, scoring has been an issue since those games as the Jackets have only mustered four goals in the last three games.
The Jackets goaltending and defense has been helping keep games close, holding their opponents to two or fewer goals in six of their last ten games including two shutouts from starting net-minder Sergei Bobrovsky.
Oppositely, the Devils (25-27-12) are having a bit of a down year as they sit seventh in the Metropolitan division and are only 2-6-2 in their last ten games. Seven of those ten games were played at home and the Devils dropped five of those games.
Welcome Home Quincey
Just three days divide defenseman Kyle Quincey’s trade from New Jersey to his return back to the Prudential Center. He was dealt to Columbus in exchange for defenseman Dalton Prout on the trade deadline day. The 31 year old blue-liner played 53 games for New Jersey this year, scoring 12 points in the process. Quincey will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year and will open up $1.5 million in cap space for the Jackets if he is not re-signed.
Quincey saw 12:16 of ice time last night against the Ottawa Senators. He was a minus two registering one shot on goal and two giveaways. Let’s hope for a little more out of him tonight.
Closing Thoughts
The Jackets need these two points from this very winnable game. Look for the offense to get back into their groove and register a handful of goals with numerous point-getters. Expect all four lines to be firing shots from everywhere and producing a lot of chances. Expect Bob to get the nod tonight and do Bob things. I give the Blue Jackets a 5-0 win.