Three ways the Jackets can skin the cats tonight at Nationwide

The wacky early season schedule for the Blue Jackets continues tonight, as they host the Florida Panthers. It's game #5 of the season for the Jackets, who face an opponent who plays their 7th game of the campaign; and the second half of a back-to-back during the week, where both were early starts.

The Panthers played yesterday afternoon in Buffalo, taking a 5-3 loss to the Sabres that brings their record to 2-2-2 on the year. They are without some big names up front, including captain Aleksander Barkov and veteran pest Brad Marchand.

Still, they are a team with lofty Stanley Cup aspirations, despite the slow start. They bring plenty of size, skill, and grit to the mix; and this could be a good early season barometer for a Blue Jackets team that wants to play their way into that style.

This won't be an easy one for the Jackets. In their last 11 games against the Panthers, they have picked up just one win. If you stretch that out to their last 21 matchups; they have beaten them only three times. That dates back to March of 2021.

But, they play these games for a reason, and I expect the Blue Jackets to come out with a chip on their shoulder. Here are our three keys to success tonight against Florida.

Match up to them physically.

We aren't in the "Broad Street Bullies" era of the NHL anymore, where teams can just run around and obliterate their opponents into submission. But, the Panthers are built to be as close to that line as they can possibly get. Sometimes, they even cross over it.

The good news is, so are the Blue Jackets. We haven't seen them get into a really emotionally charged game yet this season, but with both teams entering this game off of a loss, there might be a powder keg to ignite here.

No matter who is on the ice for either side, you can't give this Panthers team one inch of space. You have to match their physicality and intensity. It's the only way to play with them-let alone beat them.
Whether it's Mathieu Olivier or Kent Johnson, they cannot let the Panthers intimidate them. That team thrives on fear.

This is the kind of game where you need Olivier, and Erik Gudbranson, and Ryan Lomberg, and Dmitri Voronkov ... all of these big guys may have to find a dance partner if this game gets ugly. There are no shortage of options on the other side, that's for sure.

The biggest thing to add here is, do it within the confines of the rulebook. Don't give this team chances on the power-play, or they will burn you.

Can we buy some saves?

A little bit of an elephant in the room that nobody is talking about: what is going on with Jet Greaves so far? Through three starts, he's a pedestrian 1-2-0, with a .867% save percentage and 3.69 goals against average.

Per MoneyPuck, he's allowed 2.4 goals above expected through those three games. That's simply not going to cut it, for the Blue Jackets or really any other team. They need Jet to find his game, starting this evening against a tough opponent. Otherwise, it won't matter what they do at the other end of the ice.

Update: it looks like Cam Talbot will get the start in lieu of Greaves tonight.

Confidence is everything.

I thought the Jackets failed on Saturday because they went into that game in St Louis with a little bit of cockiness. They played that game as if their skill was enough to propel them to a victory. That's not what I want to see tonight against Florida.

I would rather see them stick to their system as they did on Friday night against Pittsburgh. Their decisions were better, and their passes were more crisp. That was a confident team, one that was working together to achieve a greater goal. That's the game they need to bring tonight.

Tonight's game is part of the NHL's annual "Frozen Frenzy", meaning all 32 teams are in action. As a result, it's an early start, with puck drop scheduled for 6:15 Eastern time. Let's go Jackets!

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