Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net for the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to Nationwide Arena Tuesday night. Head coach John Tortorella is also shuffling the forward lines, looking for a scoring spark, as well.
The changes come after the Blue Jackets have struggled offensively since the injury to Oliver Bjorkstrand, scoring just one goal in each of their last two outings.
“We're changing again,“ Tortorella said in his pre-game presser. “Bjorkstrand being out – he'll be part of it once we start playoffs, so that changes things. But we haven't scored here. We've been a little bit stale offensively, so I'm trying different things and we'll see where it goes.”
Captain Nick Foligno will slide to left wing on the first line, with Cam Atkinson joining that line, centered by Alexander Wennberg, on the right wing.
Josh Anderson slides up to join Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky on the second line, while Brandon Saad, previously on the first line, will move to the third line at right wing, joining Scott Hartnell and Sam Gagner on that unit.
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | DefenseMan | Defenseman |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NICK FOLIGNO | ALEXANDER WENNBERG | CAM ATKINSON | ZACH WERENSKI | SETH JONES |
| BOONE JENNER | BRANDON DUBINSKY | JOSH ANDERSON | JACK JOHNSON | DAVID SAVARD |
| SCOTT HARTNELL | SAM GAGNER | BRANDON SAAD | KYLE QUINCEY | SCOTT HARRINGTON |
| WILLIAM KARLSSON | LUKAS SEDLAK | MATT CALVERT |
“I want to keep that Sedlak line together,“ Tortorella said. “It was our best line the other night. It's an interesting line. I want to see it again and maybe a few more games to make a decision about what that line will be in the playoffs.
“It's one of the few lines of late that's played straight ahead.”
The defensive pairings remain unchanged, with Zach Werenski and Seth Jones as the top pair, Jack Johnson and David Savard as the second set and Kyle Quincey and Scott Harrington as the third blueline tandem.
Tortorella also discussed the change to the power play, which will now feature Seth Jones on the top unit and Zach Werenski on the second group.
