Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Blues (Game 76)

St. Louis Blues (36-30-9, 81pts) vs.
Columbus Blue Jackets (39-28-8, 86pts)
Nationwide Arena, Columbus OH
Sunday, March 29, 2009
5:00 PM EDT
FSOHIO/WWCD(fm)/WBNS(am)

(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)

No, I haven’t lost my mind. The Jackets play the Blues *again* this afternoon in Columbus after the two teams played to a four-round shoot-out last night in St. Louis. The Jackets rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period last night to force overtime and then ultimately lost to the Blues in the shoot-out. While there’s disappointment in losing the shootout, the rally to get back to a 3-3 tie is definitely something to build on for Columbus going into tonight’s game. St. Louis outworked the Jackets for two periods, and it took a huge hit on Rick Nash by the Blues’ TJ Oshie to seemingly get Columbus focused on the game at hand. Two goals in 90 seconds by Nash and Kristian Huselius evened the score, and then it required the shootout to decide it. The teams get about 18 hours to stew about the game before lacing the skates up once again.

Projected Lineups
St. Louis Blues:

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Team Rankings
Scoring:
STL – 2.71 gpg (21st NHL)
CBJ – 2.73 gpg (19th NHL)

Defense:
STL – 2.81 gapg (t13th NHL)
CBJ – 2.67 gapg (8th NHL)

Power Play:
STL – 20.5% (9th NHL)
CBJ – 12.7% (30th NHL)

Penalty Kill:
STL – 83.1% (6th NHL)
CBJ – 82.1% (13th NHL)

Prior Matchups

1. Columbus 2 at St. Louis 5 (1/3/09)[box]
2. St. Louis 4 at Columbus 2 (2/3/09)[box]
3. St. Louis 3 at Columbus 4 (2/18/09)[recap]
4. Columbus 3 at St. Louis 4 – SO (3/28/09)[box]

Who To Root For
Thanks to the great people at Sports Club Stats, we can also look at what the rest of the league is doing, and who (as Jackets fans) we need to root for tonight to help them make the playoffs:

St. Louis at Columbus
Minnesota at Edmonton
Nashville at Detroit
Colorado at Anaheim

Game Notes
I won’t belabor the points of yesterday’s preview, as a lot of the same things apply. Read up for some of the specifics.

The Blues came out with much more of a physical edge last night, and the Jackets had to scramble to hang out. Steve Mason allowed a couple of goals he’d like the have back, and the Blues landed the first eight hits of the game. It took a huge hit from TJ Oshie on Rick Nash to wake the Jackets up. For this game today, the Jackets have to come out with more of an edge and match the Blues’ intensity level, as they simply do not ever let up.

The one thing the Jackets did well last night was kill penalties. They took five (not great), but did not allow a PP goal and actually scored a short-handed goal of their own from Antoine Vermette. It would still be wise to stay out of the box tonight as much as possible.

The Jackets may be without Rostislav Klesla tonight, as he only skated one shift in the third period last night after an injury. No word on the severity of prognosis of the injury.

From The Outside Looking In
St. Louis Game Time
Let’s Go Blues

Next Game For The Jackets
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
7:00 PM EDT
Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets