The Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning meet tonight for the second time this season in a big Eastern Conference clash.
With a 10-2-2 record and 22 points, the Tampa Bay Lightning currently sit atop the National Hockey League. The Bolts have come out with a fury of goals early on this season, sporting the highest goal total of any of the 31 teams so far. The Columbus Blue Jackets aren’t standing out as much as the Lightning, but the team still is tied for first in the Metro Division after the franchise’s best 13-game start in history.
Last time these two teams played, the Lightning handed the CBJ a 2-0 shutout loss, the first and only shutout the Jackets have suffered this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy stood on his head, saving all 43 shots that the Blue Jackets sent his way. 19-year-old Mikhail Sergachev was the only player to score a goal in the game, netting both of Tampa Bay’s with his first and second goal of his career.
The Jackets were victorious in their last game, beating the Florida Panthers 7-3 in Sunrise, FL while the Lightning were surprisingly upended by the New York Rangers in overtime on Thursday.
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Game Information
- Game: Columbus Blue Jackets (9-4-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (10-2-2)
- Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Amalie Arena (Tampa, FL)
- TV: FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports Sun, FOX Sports Go, NHL.TV
- Radio: CD102.5 (Columbus, OH), 970 WFLA (Tampa, FL)
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Injury Report
Columbus Blue Jackets
- Cam Atkinson – Hip/Illness (DTD)
- Gabriel Carlsson – Upper-Body (IR)
- Lukas Sedlak – Ankle (IR)
Unlike Atkinson and Sedlak, Carlsson made the trip to Florida earlier this week. But it doesn’t look like he’s going to be playing until Markus Nutivaara–the man that replaced him–starts playing poorly. Carlsson may get sent to Cleveland just so he can start playing again.
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Erik Condra – Back (IR)
- Cedric Paquette – Lower-Body (DTD)
No huge injuries for Tampa Bay so far. The team’s main guys–Stamkos, Kucherov and Namestnikov–are still healthy after the first month of the season.
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Projected CBJ Lines
Panarin – Foligno – Anderson
Jenner – Dubinsky – Motte
Calvert – Wennberg – Bjorkstrand
Milano – Dubois – Hannikainen
Werenski – Jones
Johnson – Savard
Murray – Nutivaara
Bobrovsky
Korpisalo
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Projected TBL Lines
Namestnikov – Stamkos – Kucherov
Palat – Point – Gourde
Killorn – Dumont – Brown
Kunitz – Johnson – Callahan
Hedman – Dotchin
Sergachev – Stralman
Coburn – Girardi
Vasilevskiy
Budaj