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| DALLAS STARS |
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16-14-12 (44 points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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8:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, APRIL 17 AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER DALLAS, TX |
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BALLY SPORTS OHIO FOX SPORTS |
The losses are starting to pile up. In the case of the selling Blue Jackets, that is not necessarily a bad thing.
They lost 4-1 to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, April 15 and they were mostly listless. The hope was that when young players entered the lineup, the tenor may change. As of now, it looks like the same old story for the Blue Jackets.
The changes have to start coming from somewhere but the same song and dance continues.
The good news? The Blue Jackets know that Jack Roslovic can be a player in this lineup. Oliver Bjorkstrand is a key component for this team as well. He makes the right play more often than not and should be a player they build around
They need players to start cementing spots and the time is starting to slip.
The Stars are not the team they were last year but at this point in the season and players beginning to find their stride, the Pavelski's of the world are still scoring goals en masse. They score goals in bunches and can take you out of the game quickly.
Here's a look at tonight's projected (and subject to change) lines for Columbus:
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 16 | Max Domi | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 25 | Mikhail Grigorenko | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 13 | Cam Atkinson |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 42 | Alexandre Texier | 26 | Zac Dalpe |
| 23 | Stefan Matteau | 79 | Josh Dunne | 88 | Kole Sherwood |
*lines are subject to change
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Michael Del Zotto | 3 | Seth Jones |
| 44 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 4 | Scott Harrington |
| 46 | Dean Kukan | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 70 | Joonas Korpisalo |
Storylines
- WHICH YOUNG GUN?: Young players are scattering the lineup and the issue that is coming with it is that no one is stepping up in the process. Putting in Kole Sherwood, Josh Dunne and others is to try and see what each can do. In the meantime, Jack Roslovic and Oliver Bjorkstrand are the only two to play up to their expectations. The hope is to get the right players in the lineup for the 2021 season and as of right now, it is only moving forward as a big question mark.
- LAINE STREAKS: The nature of being a goal scorer is going to be streaks. A lot of people have written articles about it and the nature of how they will get hot and slow down. You ride those streaks and then hope that other parts of the game translate and allow you to stay afloat. After two goals from Patrik Laine, you are hoping that he continues it. While it is only one game since his two-goal output, are we going to see the Laine that everyone has been clamoring about?
- GOALIE SHOWDOWN: It has been said multiple times from multiple different sources that the Blue Jackets are going to likely leverage one of their goaltenders in a trade. They are trying to figure out who the future goaltender has been but neither has had any consistency that has shown that they're the best in net. These final games are going to give us an indication of who may or may not be dealt. As it stands now, neither are impressing and it is making the decision all the more difficult.
