Blue Jackets host the Leafs in a game where both sides will have money on the board

Tonight's Blue Jackets game is one that many have had circled on their calendar for the last three weeks. It's the return of Kirill Marchenko, whose Toronto Maple Leafs come to town for the first and only time this season.

We expect a loud greeting for Marchy from the Nationwide faithful, and I don't believe it will be a positive applause. He whined his way out of town over the summer, refusing to even give a reason for his sudden change of desire about playing in Columbus.

Frankly, the whole thing feels cowardly. All he has said since the trade is that he wanted to play somewhere where he could win. Apparently that was Toronto, where he joins a Leafs team that is off to a, uh, raucous 4-4-2 start. Hey, to each their own. Personally, I hope there is no welcome video, and he gets booed into oblivion whenever he's anywhere near the puck.

Enough about Marchy, he's gone, time to move on. Matthew Knies seems like he wants to be here, and we're ready to see him impose his will against his old team. Lets talk about the teams. The Leafs won 3-1 at home last night, beating the San Jose Sharks primarily thanks to two power-play goals. That snapped a 3-game losing streak for them.

The Jackets, of course, are coming off of a 2-1 loss in Minnesota that I'm sure they aren't too pleased with. While I didn't they played without passion, their execution was way off, and they are honestly lucky they didn't get blown out. Lets take a look at three things they can do to get back onto the right side of the ledger tonight.

Make better passes.

This one seems pretty simple, but I think this is an important thing to note for this team. On Sunday, I thought they were playing a little bit of what I like to call "hot potato". Guys were hesitant to hang onto the puck, instead winging ill-timed passes at the feet of their linemates.

The result speaks for itself. The Jackets managed just 14 shots on goal, few of them even remotely dangerous. Tonight, they need to be more precise, and play smarter with the puck. Without the puck, I thought they were mostly fine. Hey, progress, I guess.

Get a push in the special teams battle.

I'm hesitant to say they should win in this area of the game, because Toronto ranks 5th in power-play percentage (28.6%) and 1st on the penalty kill (96.9%). The Jackets have struggled hard on both sides of this equation, ranking 30th on the PP (11.8%) and 29th on the PK (68%).

Their best bet may be to avoid penalties altogether, but lets face it: that's not happening. There will be calls tonight, so finding a way to come out of odd-man situations on both sides of the puck without too much damage or big momentum swings, is vital.

At 5 on 5, I like their chances. Especially if they follow key #3 below.

Check.

Checking in hockey doesn't mean just running guys into the boards, though, that would be a good way to play the Leafs tonight. No, by checking, we're often talking about playing team defense.

This means all 5 guys working together to prevent scoring chances against. Sticks in passing lanes, blocking shots, winning battles along the boards and in front of the net. The only way to beat a team that is better than you on paper, is by checking them into submission.

By the final horn, if the Toronto players are banging their sticks on the boards or slamming doors shut, the Blue Jackets have done their job. And, that will likely mean two points at the end of the night. That's all that matters here, regardless who is on the other side.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 Eastern time from Nationwide. There will be a few lineup changes from Sunday, with Carson Soucy and Danton Heinen both coming out; replaced by Emil Andrae and Dmitri Voronkov. Jet Greaves will start in goal.

Both sides will have money on the board for this one, with former players from either team facing off against their old friends. Let's go Jackets!

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