The Blue Jackets can do themselves a massive favor by taking revenge on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in Raleigh. In the second half of a back-to-back, they can hold onto their playoff spot with a win-and tie the season series against their divisional foe.
These two teams met just two nights ago in Columbus. Needless to say, it did not go well for the Blue Jackets. Officiating, terrible penalty killing, and reactive play all combined to help the Canes cruise to a 5-2 win.
Coming into this one, the Jackets have now lost four games in a row, and five out of six overall. In that six game span, they've picked up just three points, taking them out of second place in the Metropolitan Division, and leaving them gasping for breath.
The Opponent
We'll keep this section short since the Jackets just played the Canes two nights ago. In case you missed the article or the game, you can read all about how good they are in our preview from Tuesday night.
But, we'll add that Carolina became one of just two teams in the Eastern Conference to hit the 100-point mark this season, with their win on Tuesday night. I wouldn't expect to see any changes on their end, as they absolutely steamrolled this same Blue Jackets team.
Update: the Canes will start Frederik Andersen tonight.
The Good Guys
The Jackets are a little bit banged up, so we won't know the lineup for this one until right before game time. Already missing Damon Severson, Dmitri Voronkov, and Mathieu Olivier; there are two other players whose status is up in the air.
Isac Lundestrom left Tuesday night's game with an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, Mason Marchment was banged up and did not join the team for practice yesterday. As a result, the team recalled forward Zach Aston-Reese from the Cleveland Monsters, to join them on the road trip.
As we mentioned ahead of Tuesday's game, it's going to take all hands on deck. This team needs its offense to show up the way they were two or three weeks ago. And, they need to be on top of their game defensively. Even if both of those things happen, it might still not be enough against this Carolina team.
Update: Luca del bel Belluz goes into the lineup in some capacity. Elvis Merzlikins will get the start. We'll have to wait until the pregame skate to see the full lineup.
#CBJ head coach Rick Bowness says Elvis Merzlikins gets the start in net tonight at Carolina. There are some game-time decisions up front, as he mentioned yesterday with Isac Lundeström and Mason Marchment, but the plan is for Luca Del Bel Belluz to go in.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) April 2, 2026
Three Keys to Success
1. Play on your toes. It's been frustrating to watch this team revert back to playing a reactive style of hockey-especially with the lead. They did that in the first half of Tuesday's game, and saw the results. Then, they battled back before reverting to this style again-which cost them the game. It's not hard to see what the issue is here.
2. Get some calls. This one's in Raleigh? Ugh, good luck.
3. Lay it all on the line. There are only seven games left this season. At this point, there is no time left to hold onto anything. Get out there and empty the tanks. Either you will make the playoffs and this will all be worth it, or you'll be on the beach soon. Play for pride, at the very least.
Puck drop for this one is scheduled for just after 7:00 Eastern Time. The Canes have won two of the first three games in this series this year, including the first one in Raleigh. A win on the road would even the series, but that's something this team hasn't done in Carolina since 1/13/2022. We'll see. Let's go Jackets!