Columbus Blue Jackets Going to Roll the Dice in Vegas
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets are set to face a team that ‘s in a fairly similar situation to them, the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Vegas Golden Knights were one of the most surprising teams last season, in part thanks to former Columbus Blue Jackets forward William Karlsson who had a massive breakout season.
While the Golden Knights are nowhere near as successful as they were last season, they’re still currently set in a playoff position as they’re third in the Pacific Division behind only the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks with 66 points.
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The Knights are currently led by Alex Tuch, who they received from the Minnesota Wild in the expansion draft, who has 40 points through 48 games. Former Blue Jacket Jonathan Marchessault is currently second with 38 points in 56 games with William Karlsson trailing him with 35 in the same number of games.
Both teams are currently on a two game winning streak, with the teams winning their last game on Thursday. The Knights defeated the Detroit Red Wings, while the Columbus Blue Jackets walked out of Arizona with a win.
Despite his failure to put up a point against the Coyotes, Artemi Panarin has been on fire recently and leads the Blue Jackets in points at the moment with 60 through 51 games. Cam Atkinson and Pierre-Luc Dubois have also both been doing very well recently, however they’re both under a point per game on the season.
Atkinson’s most impressive stat at this point is his 29 goals through 51 games, with 29 games left in the season it’s possible he could hit 40 goals for the first time in his career. While 50 may be possible, it would likely be a bit of a stretch unless he catches a hot streak like he had earlier in the season.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets are going to have a tough challenge tonight against a lot of familiar faces against the Vegas Golden Knights.