Jackets Preview Game #54

Colorado Avalanche (25-27-1, 51pts) vs
Columbus Blue Jackets (25-23-5, 55pts)
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
7:00 PM EST
FSOHIO/WWCD(fm)/WBNS(am)

(Dispatch Preview / SportsDirect Preview)

The Jackets are back in action coming off another huge win over San Jose. If they can get back to bringing the effort that won them that game on a more regular basis, things should look good with some big games coming up this week. The first one is against the struggling Colorado Avalanche. It was hoped that  THIS game would finally mark the return of former Jackets “Captain” (we use that term loosely, given the circumstances of his exit from the ‘Bus) Adam Foote to Nationwide, but he is again suffering from this lingering triceps injury garbage, and is not on the trip. Way to step up, Adam! The Jackets will have to settle with going for what would definitely be a fan-pleasing four-game season sweep of the Avs.

Projected Lineups
Colorado Avalanche:

LW: Ryan Smyth – Cody McLeod – Darcy Tucker – Cody McCormick
C: Wojtek Wolski – T.J. Hensick – Tyler Arnason – Ian Laperriere
RW: Milan Hejduk – Chris Stewart – Marek Svatos – Brian Willsie

D: Scott Hannan – Brett Clark – Jordan Leopold
D: John-Michael Liles – Ruslan Salei – Daniel Tjarnqvist

G: Peter Budaj

Columbus Blue Jackets:

LW: Kristian Huselius – Jason Chimera – Andrew Murray – Raffi Torres
C: Manny Malhotra – Jason Williams – RJ Umberger – Michael Peca
RW: Rick Nash – Fredrik Modin – Jared Boll – Derek Dorsett

D: Jan Hejda – Fedor Tyutin – Kris Russell
D: Mike Commodore – Rostislav Klesla– Christian Backman

G: Dan LaCosta

Team Rankings
Scoring:
COL – 2.62 gpg (t20th NHL)
CBJ – 2.62 gpg (t20th NHL)

Defense:
COL – 3.06 gapg (25th NHL)
CBJ – 2.79 gapg (12th NHL)

Power Play:
COL – 17.4% (t19th NHL)
CBJ – 11.9% (30th NHL)

Penalty Kill:
COL – 78.0% (25th NHL)
CBJ – 80.6% (19th NHL)

Prior Matchups
1. Columbus 4 at Colorado 2 (10/30/08)[box]
2. Columbus 6 at Colorado 1 (1/02/09)[box]
3. Colorado 3 at Columbus 4 (1/13/09)[box]

Game Notes
This is a game that the Jackets need to win. Not only for their fans’ sake (the fans have honestly been waiting for a year to boo Adam Foote, and again won’t get the chance), but for their own sake and the sake of their playoff hopes. Colorado is reeling. Dating back to the last meeting between those two teams, Colorado has gone 3-8-0 in their last 11 (including the loss at Columbus on 1/13). The Jackets haven’t been that much better (5-5-1), but have been able to keep themselves in the race. They need to complete the season-sweep of the Avs at home tonight to keep the momentum garnered in the big win against San Jose on Saturday going in their favor.

Dan LaCosta gets his second straight start in goal (and, of course, the second start of his NHL career overall) tonight, as Ken Hitchcock has decided to reward his solid showing against the Sharks with another game; this also gives Steve Mason (mono) some more rest before his anticipated return on Friday against Detroit. The Avs have struggled on offense much like the Jackets of late (as evidenced by their identical goals/game rate on the season), but the issue for the Avs has been their defense. During this tough 11 game span, they have allowed 43 goals (3.91 per!). Columbus must exploit this weakness by continuing to get solid scoring chances (like they did against San Jose), and then capitalizing on those chances against a struggling defense.

Neither team has played since Saturday, so there’s no “rest” edge for either squad, really.  Colorado was in St. Louis on Saturday, so there isn’t a travel issue, either. This game is going to come down to who wants it more. The crowd on Saturday for the Sharks game was great, and that should continue tonight; there should be raucous crowd on hand (having anticipating Adam Foote playing), which should help the Jackets. Most importantly, they need to bring their physical game for 60 minutes like they did on Saturday, which will wear down the Avalanche (as it has in their other three meetings on the season). Getting some timely goaltending again from Dan LaCosta would help, but as long as the defense can keep the Avs’ offense in check like they did against San Jose’s, LaCosta hopefully won’t be overly tested.

Side game notes:

• The Jackets have won five of the past six against the Avs, including the last three played in Columbus.
• Colorado center Wojtek Wolski is tied for the league lead in shoot-out goals with six. He has six goals in seven chances (85.7% success) . In regular play, however, he has 11 goals in 106 shots (10.4% success – league leaders are in the mid-20s). It’s always odd to me how guys can be so good at one but largely mediocre at the other.
• Colorado is in the second game of astretch that has them playing 11-of-14 games on the road. This comes after just finishing a 15-of-19 stretch at home that dates back to December 23rd.

From The Outside Looking In
Avs Talk
Mile High Hockey (this one is a good one!)
All Things Avs (Denver Post)
Colorado Avalanche 24/7 (Rocky Mountain News)

Next Game For The Jackets
Friday, February 13, 2009
7:00 PM EST
Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets