Game Preview: Blue Jackets Face Penguins In Black Friday Battle

The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to end a three-game skid Friday night when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town for the first time this season.

The Blue Jackets won in Pittsburgh at the end of October, a 5-4 victory in Columbus' first overtime game of the season. More than half (nine of 17) of the games since that date have gone to overtime for the Blue Jackets.

Here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:

• Pittsburgh is 11-6-5 on the season but have just three regulation wins in their last ten games. ... The Penguins lead the league in power play percentage (31.4%) and have the fifth-ranked penalty kill, at 85.2%. ... This is the first half of a back-to-back for Pittsburgh, who returns home to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
   
• Jet Greaves continues to be the number one goalie for head coach Dean Evason. Greaves' goals against average sits at 2.74 and the Blue Jackets have at least one point in each of his last eight starts (4-0-4). He'll get the start again in this one.
   
• Zach Werenski scored his eighth goal of the season in Wednesday's overtime loss. He is third among NHL defensemen in goals, tied for third in points with 22, and is second in the league in average ice time at 26:32.
   
• Luca Pinelli looked great in his NHL debut Wednesday and quickly earned the trust of Evason. He skated 16:20, including 2:07 on the power play and was out there in overtime, as well. “He plays the game hard, plays it right," said Evason. "He plays with lots of energy, (he’s) got a skillset, and makes plays. We were real happy.”
   
• No lineup changes from Wednesday's game are expected. That means Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier remain out with upper-body injuries and Jake Christiansen remains a healthy scratch, while Pinelli and Brendan Smith will remain in. Here are the complete projections: