Game Preview: With Injuries Mounting, New Faces Dominate The Lineup As Blue Jackets Battle Sharks At Nationwide

SAN JOSE SHARKS

16-42-7 (39 pts; .300%) 8th, Pacific Division ROSTER SCHEDULE

7:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, MARCH 16 NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH

TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ Power Play (Out of Market)

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, another Columbus Blue Jacket has landed on the injured reserve list.

Okay, that might not be true — but the Blue Jackets injury list has grown dramatically over the last number of days. Just this week, the club has lost Yegor Chinakhov, Sean Kuraly, Justin Danforth, and Adam Boqvist to various injuries. With Patrik Laine, Kent Johnson, and Adam Fantilli already out of the lineup, the team being iced Saturday night when Columbus takes on the San Jose Sharks is one that will feature a lot of new faces. 

Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets and Sharks battle at Nationwide Arena:

TALKING POINTS: SJ

• With the Sharks being the worst team in the NHL in both points and point percentage, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that they're at or near the bottom league in most key areas. Their 2.20 goals per game is just barely better than the Chicago Blackhawks, the 3.91 goals per game they allow is the league-worst by a wide margin, and they're last in both shots for (25.5) and shots allowed (35.4). 
   
• One bright-ish spot? The power play, which is converting at a 21% clip on the season and is 11-for-26 (42.3%) over the last eight games.
   
• The 24-year-old, third-rounder Fabian Zetterlund is the Sharks' team leader in goals. For whatever it's worth, he has two goals and three assists in four career games against the Blue Jackets. 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• Despite losing three of them, the Blue Jackets have not allowed more than three goals in their last four games. That's something they've done only one other time season, a four-game stretch where they went 3-1-0 in late November.
   
• As mentioned earlier, the injuries are mounting for the Blue Jackets as they enter the final month of the season. With several players out of the lineup and several call-ups from AHL Cleveland, here are the projected but (of course and as always) subject-to-change lineups for Saturday night: