Game #42 preview, Blue Jackets hope to avoid Shark bites

The Blue Jackets will face the San Jose Sharks for the first time this season, on the road tonight. It's another vital 2 points at stake as they try to keep their rapidly diminishing playoff dreams alive.

After splitting two games at home over the weekend, I have to imagine the Jackets are relieved to be out on the road. My gut says that another lackadaisical performance at home tonight might have seen them booed off the ice.

Instead, they hit the road for their last game in California for the season, where they take on a Sharks team that is the talk of the league on many nights.

The Opponent

The Sharks have a lot of buzz surrounding them because they have surprised the NHL with their upstart season. They sit at 20-18-3 (43 points), just one point out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Does that record look remarkable? It shouldn't, because that's the same number of points the Blue Jackets have. Though, with two more wins. This is proof of how crazy the Eastern Conference has been this season. Funny enough, the Blue Jackets have a much better goal differential, too.

San Jose quite literally hit the lottery in 2024, when they won the rights to select Macklin Celebrini first overall. He exploded onto the scene as a rookie, and has only gotten better as a sophomore.

There is no other to say it. This guy is having an unbelievable season. Currently, he leads the Sharks in scoring and is third in the entire NHL with 63 points (22 goals). Note: that's 34 points more than his next closest teammate. Macklin has factored in on more than 50% of his team's total offense.

He's single-handedly dragging this team into the playoff battle in the Western Conference. It's vital that the Blue Jackets find a way to at least somewhat slow him down tonight.

Overall, this is still a mostly young, inexperienced San Jose team. They give up a ton of goals (31st in the NHL), so they are very beatable. Tonight, the Jackets will get to face their backup goaltender.

Alex Nedeljkovic has one of the most difficult names to spell in the entire NHL, so from here on I'll call him "Ned". He's 5-8-2 this season, with a 3.14 goals against average and .890% save percentage.

Of course, Ned has had some of the best success of his career against the Jackets. He's 5-1-3 in his career against Columbus, with a .921% sv pct and 2.36 goals against average.

The Good Guys

The Jackets made lots of news today. First, they added an experienced executive to their front office. Then, they picked up a big two-way defenseman that just hit the free agent market.

Unfortunately, neither will have any impact on this team tonight. There will be changes to the lineup, with Sean Monahan set to return after missing the last few games due to an undisclosed injury.

But, who comes out of the lineup is the question. Mason Marchment left the morning skate early with some kind of ailment, so if he can't go, that's the change.

Jet Greaves will get the nod in goal, his 7th consecutive start. Clearly, he has separated himself from Elvis Merzlikins, who does not seem to have any trust from the coaching staff at this time.

Three Keys to Success

1. Put a body on #71 at all times. I can't recall the last time I saw a player account for this much of his team's offense. If the Jackets can slow down Macklin Celebrini, they will give themselves a better chance of winning this game.

2. Take advantage. The Sharks are missing some bodies, including second leading scorer Will Smith. They are a young team, and with a day off, there's no reason the Blue Jackets can't pounce on them and bully them around the ice.

3. Win the third period. Sigh.

It's a late start tonight, with this one being on the west coast. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 10:00pm Eastern time. If you're like me, you will probably be watching the replay with your morning coffee. Let's go Jackets.