Columbus Blue Jackets Staring Down the Barrel: Stars in Ohio
The Columbus Blue Jackets look to sweep the season series tonight as they take on the Dallas Stars.
Tonight the Columbus Blue Jackets hope the Dallas Stars will not be big and bright. The matchup is the first for the CBJ following their mandatory five day break.
The Stars on the other hand are playing their third game in four nights. They are finishing up a road trip to the north east.
Before the game we sat down with BlackoutDallas.com editor Josh Clark about the game.
Norris Candidates Jones & Klingberg
Lansing Murphy (LM): We talk a lot in Ohio about how Seth Jones deserves more Norris consideration. I’m sure you do the same with John Klingberg in Texas. How great of a year is he having?
Josh Clark (JC): Just unreal and entirely entertaining. That’s all I can really say. I’ve been covering the Stars for Blackout Dallas for almost four years now and have seen every game that John Klingberg has played in (considering he started in November 2014). This season, he’s just an entirely new animal. It’s almost like every time he’s on the ice, you can expect him to tally a point. Ken Hitchcock has him playing in every possible situation on the ice, he’s eating up minutes, and he’s really growing from all of the experiences.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Oh yeah, and those 43 points in 46 games are pretty impressive for a 25-year-old, haha. He’s just a complete and all-around strong defenseman this season. There’s no doubt anymore that #3 is the defender of the future for Dallas.
LM: This will be the Stars third game in four days. How have the Stars done on short rest this season? Are we going to see a team riding the momentum of two straight wins or a tired team?
JC: They have done rather well and definitely much better than in past seasons. Maybe it’s Hitchcock’s coaching style. But the Stars took down a red-hit Bruins team on Monday and followed it up by smacking the Red Wings 30 hours later. They’re playing efficient hockey and putting just the right amount of energy into each game in order to be ready for the next one. You can (hopefully) expect a much more energized and focused team than you did on January 2nd.
Former CBJ Heatherington Making Debut
LM: Former CBJ prospect Dillon Heatherington is making his NHL debut tonight in place of Julius Honka. What do you make of that?
JC: I’ll start by saying that many Stars fans have no idea what to think. As exciting as it is to see a young guy like Heatherington (who is having a good year in the AHL) make his debut, the Dallas defense has been growing more and more consistent in their performance with each passing game.
Using their typical six-man setup that they have used for a majority of the year (which includes Honka) seems to be working very well for them. It will be interesting to see not only how Heatherington responds to the NHL level, but also how the Dallas defense responds with a defensive defenseman in the lineup instead of Honka’s offensive firepower.
LM: Which division do you think is the toughest, the Metro or Central?
JC: Though you and the Columbus Blue Jackets faithful might disagree with me, I have to say it’s definitely the Central. Both divisions are filled with talent, but there’s currently a nine-point spread between first and last place in the Central. It seems like all seven teams deserve a playoff spot (especially considering the Blackhawks are currently in LAST place). It’s crazy stuff and it’s definitely making every game matter, which just puts that much more pressure on each team in the division. It seems like three wins gets the Stars nowhere nowadays but one loss bumps them to sixth or seventh. There’s just no breathing room, and I have no doubt that a Central Division team will represent the West in the Stanley Cup Final this year.
LM: How do you see this game playing out tonight?
JC: I think we’re going to see another defensive battle like we did on January 2. Two teams relying heavily on their relatively young defensive cores to make big plays. Bishop has struggled a little on the road this year, but I’m expecting him to be looking for some justification after giving up a few soft goals to CBJ on the 2nd. It’s going to be a tight one and could even go to OT, but I don’t even want to try predicting a winner.
Thanks to Josh Clark for taking the time to sit down with us and be sure to check his writing out at BlackoutDallas.com.