The Blue Jackets Western road trip through the desert is going quite well. Picking up wins over Colorado and Arizona have pushed Columbus up to 63 points and into third place in the Metro division.
Vegas comes into this game having also won two straight games, picking up a big win over Tampa Bay in a shootout and Detroit in regulation. William Karlsson has been a significant contributor scoring a goal and an assist against Detroit and picking up an assist against the Lightning.
PROJECTED LINES:
Panarin – Dubois – Atkinson
Duclair – Wennberg – Bjorkstrand
Foligno – Jenner – Anderson
Hannikainen – Sedlak – Nash
DEFENSEMEN:
Murray – Jones
Werenski – Savard
Harrington – Nutivaara
GOALTENDER:
Bobrovsky
Storylines:
- The magic is never gone. After surprising everybody last year with a run to the Stanley Cup Final, I think many expected that to be a one-off and expected to see Vegas come back to earth this season. The Golden Knights have, but they remain a very strong team. Their 66 points has them third in the Pacific. This will not be an easy game.
- Top end talent. The Blue Jackets won on Thursday without getting a point from their vaunted top line of Panarin-Dubois-Atkinson. The depth players stepped up against Arizona with players like Lukas Sedlak and David Savard getting goals. Against a good team like Vegas, you need your stars to do damage.
