The Blue Jackets will be out to avenge a couple of losses tonight. They hope to bounce back after a disappointing outcome in Montreal on Thursday, where they lost a tight 2-1 game. And, they will look to get revenge on the San Jose Sharks, who beat them 5-2 in their only other matchup back on January 6.
The Jackets have just two regulation losses in the month of March. With three games remaining, it would be nice if they could keep that number down. Of the three remaining, tonight's opponent is clearly the must win of the group.
The Sharks have fallen out of the playoff race in the Western Conference, and are currently on a 6-game losing streak-a stretch where they have picked up just one point. Despite their struggles, this is a classic trap game for the Blue Jackets, and they can ill afford to fall into it.
The Opponent
The Sharks are 32-31-7 (71 points), 6 back of the Nashville Predators for the final wild card spot in the West. But, that's with three teams in between them. For all intents and purposes, their playoff ambitions are running on fumes.
Still, on any given night, this Sharks team can sneak up and burn you. They have one of the game's very best players, and he has been essentially unstoppable. Macklin Celebrini has 35 goals and 96 points in 70 games this season.
That leads his team in scoring by 49 points. That's not a typo. Second place Will Smith has 21 goals and 47 points on the year. Third place is a familiar name for 5th Liners: Alex Wennberg is not far behind Smith, with 14 goals and 45 points.
The Sharks are 19th in the NHL offensively, with 210 goals scored-and 30th in the NHL with 250 goals allowed. So, without digging too deep here, you can see what the main focus has to be tonight: contain #71.
I don't think you can fully shut him down, but you have to at least keep his production to a minimum. The Jackets are well set up to do that, especially at home. The Sharks a smattering of injuries, including enforcer Ryan Reaves, who fought Mathieu Olivier in the first matchup between these clubs. And, two other veterans: defenseman John Klingberg and forward Ty Dellandrea.
Also, expect Alex Nedeljkovic to get the start in goal tonight, after their usual starter (Yaroslav Askarov) left their last game with an injury. He's listed as day-to-day. If that holds true, it's a bad omen. "Ned" has played some of the best hockey of his career against the Blue Jackets.
The Ohio native is 6-1-3, with a .923% save percentage, 2.33 goals against average, and 1 shutout in 11 games played against the Jackets.
The Good Guys
The Jackets will also have some lineup changes tonight. At the very least, on the blue line, as Damon Severson is out week-to-week with an upper body injury suffered in Montreal on Thursday night. That's awful news, as I thought Damon was playing some of the best hockey of his career over the last few weeks.
#CBJ head coach Rick Bowness said D Damon Severson is week-to-week with an upper body injury suffered last night in Montreal.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) March 27, 2026
That means one of Jake Christiansen or Egor Zamula will go into the lineup. We will also have to wait and see if there are any changes made up front. Most notable here would be Kent Johnson, who was a healthy scratch on Thursday.
I'm not sure the team saw enough out of Miles Wood to keep him in the lineup. The Jackets struggled to get their forecheck going all night against the Habs, so a little bit of tinkering up front definitely seems possible.
In goal, I think it's fair to expect Elvis Merzlikins tonight. This is the first half of a back-to-back, and I have a gut feeling that Rick Bowness wants to preserve Jet Greaves for the bigger matchup tomorrow night, as the team hosts the Boston Bruins.
Three Keys to Success
1. Contain Macklin Celebrini. If the Blue Jackets can keep Celebrini off the scoresheet, they have a much better chance of winning this game. It's no guarantee, but the Sharks are very beatable if he doesn't dominate the game.
2. Traffic. The Jackets have really struggled to get to the front of the net over their last few games. As a result, their offense is sputtering. Getting in front of the San Jose goal and finding second (and third) chances is the only way to generate more offense.
3. Feed off of the 5th Line. As the team marches towards the playoffs, I expect the home crowd to show up in a big way tonight. Give this team the motivation they need to get the job done. We want playoff hockey at Nationwide.
Tonight's game is an early start, scheduled for just after 5:00 Eastern time from Nationwide Arena. Let's go Jackets!