After a miserable, injury-riddled start to the 2014 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-15-2, 24 pts.) have won five straight and are beginning to climb out of the basement in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference standings.
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: A playoff opponent of the first-place Penguins (19-6-3, 41 pts.) last season,
the Blue Jackets bottomed out in late November with a sixth consecutive loss and they earned just six points in all of that month. December has been much kinder to Ohio’s only NHL team, as Columbus has five wins in five games, including a shootout win and two overtime wins. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has earned the win in all five of those games, last defeating Washington in OT on Thursday.
Columbus is still only ahead of Carolina in the division standings, but only four points separate them from the third-place New York Rangers. The seventh-place Blue Jackets host division-leading Pittsburgh at Nationwide Arena Saturday night at 7 pm, and they will not have to face Sidney Crosby, who will sit out again as a medical precaution. The team announced his benching Friday before the home game against Calgary, but sources also claimed he had tested negative for the mumps, an illness that has been going around the league affecting various teams.
Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses in the month of December, going 3-1-1 in a stretch that has included an overtime loss to the Rangers. The Penguins defeated the Flames on Friday night and now play Columbus for the first of four times this season. In last season’s Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Pittsburgh defeated Columbus four games to two in the opening seven-game series of the NHL Playoffs. Both of Columbus’ wins in that series came in overtime.
THE NET-MINDERS: With wins in five straight and having had Friday off, expect Bobrovsky to be in net again for the Blue Jackets. He comes off of a 39-save performance against the Capitals on Thursday, winning 3-2 in a game in which his team was outshot 41-23 in an overtime match. For Pittsburgh, coach Mike Johnston has made it clear that he will not start goalies on back-to-back nights, so expect Thomas Greiss to play for Pittsburgh. Greiss is 3-2-1 in six starts with a 2.47 GAA and a .923 save percentage. Bobrovsky is 10-8-1, with a 2.67 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He has not been strong playing at home against Pittsburgh, going 0-2-1 with an .899 save percentage. In addition to Bobrovsky’s career struggles playing against the Penguins on his home ice, Columbus has not defeated Pittsburgh in regulation at Nationwide Arena since January of 2006, a remarkable stretch that is very indicative of the two team’s vastly different levels of success over the past decade.
COMEAU ON OVER: Among the top acquisitions in the offseason for Pittsburgh has been Blake Comeau, who played last year in Columbus. In 61 games as a Blue Jacket, Comeau totaled 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) but in just 27 games with Pittsburgh, he has already surpassed that with 17 points (9 goals, 8 assists). With so many injuries and missed time for various Penguins in the first two-plus months of the season, Comeau’s strong play has been vital to the team’s success.
#TRENDING: The Penguins rank third in goals for and sixth in goals against, while Columbus ranks just 23rd and 28th in those vital categories. However, the Blue Jackets are strong on the power play, ranking fourth at 23.3 percent. Pittsburgh, ranking first all season long, is now second at a still-very strong 27.5 percent. Washington now has the slight edge in that column at 27.8 percent. The Penguins also rank very highly on the penalty kill at fourth overall, but Columbus struggles there ranking 26th, so the Penguins should have a major edge when players are in the “sin bin” on Saturday night.
For Columbus, center Ryan Johansen is the leading points-scorer with 27, and wingers Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson and Scott Hartnell are also major contributors. On defense, Jack Johnson is having a tough season, totaling a minus-17 plus-minus on the ice, while dealing with financial issues and bankruptcy off the ice. Columbus has four players with a minus-rating in the double digits, while Pittsburgh has no such player. In fact, the Penguins lowest mark in that category is the minus-4 notched so far by Marcel Goc.
TRANSACTIONS: Prior to Saturday’s game, the Penguins sent forward Jayson Megna to Wilkes Barre-Scranton of the AHL. Also, forwards Bryan Rust and Bobby Farnham have been recalled and will be in uniform at Columbus, each making their professional debuts.
