The Blue Jackets face another tough challenge this evening, as they head on the road to take on the Montreal Canadiens. This game features two of the league's upstart franchises, both of whom have a lot at stake tonight.
The Jackets jumped over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Their win in Philadelphia, combined with Pittsburgh's loss at home to Colorado, was enough to propel them into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Montreal won a big game on Tuesday as well, downing the #1 seed Carolina Hurricanes by a 5-2 margin. The Habs have been a little up and down lately, but have won their last two games by a combined 12-5 score.
The Opponent
Through 70 games played, Montreal is 39-21-10 (88 points); one point ahead of the Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference standings, with one fewer game played. Under the NHL's old 1v8 playoff format, these two teams would be the 4-5 seeds, on a collision course for a first round playoff series right now.
That would be a really fun series. We will see why tonight. The Habs like to play fast, and the task tonight will be slowing that offense down. Which is exactly where the Jackets have excelled of late.
Up front, the Canadiens are led in scoring by center Nick Suzuki. He has 24 goals and 86 points on the season, which has him tied for 8th in the league in scoring. He's quietly emerged as one of the best two-way pivots in the sport.
But, the talk of the town lately is Cole Caufield, who is red hot. He has 4 goals and 7 points in their last 2 games, bringing his stat line to 44-32-76 in 69gp, good for second on the team. Next up is Lane Hutson (69 points), then former 1st overall pick Juraj Slavkofsky (63), and recent 5th overall pick Ivan Demidov (54).
All of that mentioned, and we still haven't gotten to their big offseason addition. Noah Dobson sits 6th on the team with 46 points after the Canadiens were able to outbid Don Waddell for his services last summer.
Montreal is 5th in the NHL in scoring, with 247 goals for. Where they have struggled is on defense. They sit 24th in that category, having surrendered 225. This team can be lightning in a bottle on a lot of nights, but the key is not getting into a track meet with them. If the game opens up, they will burn you.
In goal, the Canadiens have relied on a committee. Jakub Dobes and Sam Montembeault have seen most of the starts, but lately it's been youngster Jacob Fowler who has steadied the ship for them.
The Good Guys
The Jackets come into this one in pretty good shape, but they still need to grab points. Their win against the Flyers on Tuesday night was pivotal, with every team around them losing. Another outcome like that tonight would be fantastic.
With just 11 games left on the schedule (including tonight), the magic number for a guaranteed playoff spot is probably about 13 points. If the Jackets can go 6-4-1, they will get in.
But, with that in mind: the more they can rack up, the better. Right now, they are sitting in a position that would give them home ice in the first round. That's something that has never happened before. So, finding points down the stretch-including tonight in Montreal-is pretty important.
Rick Bowness has not tinkered with his lineup for nearly two weeks, and barring any injuries or illness tonight, I don't see that changing. We'll update the article once we get any kind of official word.
Three Keys to Success
1. Play CBJ hockey. Montreal wants to play a free-flowing game and score goals in bunches. The Blue Jackets can't get sucked into that, because they will be out-gunned. Just play the system, and take advantage of any mistakes on the other side to score goals. Make this a boring game in the Bell Centre.
2. Put 'em on the glass. It's time for the Blue Jackets to start ramping up their physicality for the playoffs. They should rattle the boards with a check every chance they get tonight-especially against the skill guys on the other side.
3. Just win, baby. Even if the game opens up and becomes a wild one, just find a way to take home two points. The season isn't depending on it, but things are awful tight behind the Jackets in the standings.
Tonight's game is scheduled for just after 7:00 Eastern time. It's the second of three matchups between these two teams this season. The Jackets won the first one, 4-3 at Nationwide back on November 17th. They will finish up the series back in Montreal on April 11th. Let's go Jackets!