The Blue Jackets enter Saturday on a 3-game winning streak. But, as fun as the last few days have been; a loss tonight could throw their playoff hopes into a pit of despair.
That's because they travel to Pittsburgh, to face the team that they really should be looking to catch in the standings. Entering this game, the Jackets are 5 points back. A regulation win closes the gap to 3 points. A regulation loss makes it 7, and the Penguins have a game in hand.
Of course, this is a team that has given the Blue Jackets fits for the last decade and a half. This season's previous matchups would be a perfect example.
The Opponent
The Penguins are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, with a 22-14-10 record (54 points). They come into tonight's game on a high note, having beaten the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 on Thursday.
Pittsburgh lives and breathes by its star power, and this team has plenty of it. Sidney Crosby will go down as one of the greatest players to ever lace them up, and this season is doing nothing to change anyone's opinion in that regard.
Sid the Kid has 25 goals and 51 points so far this season, leading the Penguins in scoring by 14 points. Of course, part of that is because his long-time partner in crime, Evgeni Malkin, has missed a chunk of this season due to injury.
Still, Sid is as elite as they come, and the first step towards taking this team down, is limiting his scoring opportunities as much as you can. And, even if you can slow him down, it's no guarantee.
Pittsburgh still has Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, and a smattering of other dangerous offensive weapons; including former Jacket Egor Chinakhov. Though, star defenseman Erik Karlsson is currently on IR. That will help.
Where you can take advantage of this team is in their defensive end. The best way to beat them is by making them play in front of their own goaltender-though, that has not been an easy feat this season.
Pittsburgh has vastly improved their defensive scheme this season, currently sitting 10th in the league in total goals against. The Jackets will need to take advantage of any scoring chances they get, to have any hope of gaining ground in the standings tonight.
In goal, the Penguins feature a guy who has been to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals: Stuart Skinner. He's not the best in the league, but he has been much better in black & gold, than he was at the start of this year with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Good Guys
They say things always get their darkest before dawn. And, that seems to be the case for the Blue Jackets-with their breaking point actually coming against this Penguins team 13 days ago.
The Jackets took a 4-1 lead on home ice, early in the second period; only to see the Penguins roar back and win the game in overtime. It was yet another frustrating loss in a CBJ season that has had plenty.
It was also the kick-starter for GM Don Waddell to ultimately fire his head coach. Since replacing Dean Evason with Rick Bowness, the Jackets have looked like a completely different team.
The only bad thing is, was it too late? Look no further than the previous three matchups against Pittsburgh this season, to see how crucial one or two games can be.
Against Pittsburgh, the Jackets are 1-0-2, but it could easily be 3-0-0. In the first game, they led 4-2 over Pittsburgh with just over 5 minutes left, but let them earn a point and needed a shootout to get the win.
In the second game, the Jackets again blew a two goal third period lead, but this time they could not salvage a win and lost in overtime. The third game, as we mentioned above, may be the worst of them all.
Take this into consideration: if the Jackets close out those three games in regulation, they would actually be ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the standings right now. That's how pivotal these inner-division games can be.
As we said at the top, this is an absolute must-win game if the Jackets are going to keep pace in the Eastern Conference. Preferably, in regulation.
Three Keys to Success
1. Do the things that make you successful. This seems like a lot to say in one key, but it's the most important thing. Don't get sucked into a Pittsburgh Penguins style hockey game. Go play CBJ hockey, and stick with it for 60 minutes.
2. Get some saves. Not to say that goaltending is the reason they have struggled in this series, but the Jackets have given up 13 goals to this team in 3 games. Keeping them under 4 goals tonight would be a good start.
3. Don't take your foot off the gas. Three times they have gotten big leads over this Penguins team. In each of them, they have let them back into the game. Play the full 60 minutes, and I think they are a beatable team.
It's a big one tonight in Pittsburgh. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 Eastern. Let's go Jackets.