| CBJ | NJ | |
|---|---|---|
| 13-12-3 | ROAD / HOME | 13-10-2 |
| 3.09 | GOALS FOR | 2.58 |
| 3.26 | GOALS AGAINST | 3.07 |
| 20.1% | POWER PLAY | 21.4% |
| 76.5% | PENALTY KILL | 78.6% |
| 30.1 | SHOTS FOR | 29.5 |
| 30.6 | SHOTS AGAINST | 28.0 |
| 50.8% | FACEOFF % | 50.5% |
| NEW JERSEY: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| TUE, 1/27 | vs. Jets | L, 4-3 |
| THU, 1/29 | vs. Predators | W, 3-2 |
| SAT, 1/31 | @ Senators | L, 4-1 |
| NEW JERSEY: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS | Nico Hischier | 18 |
| ASSISTS | Jesper Bratt | 27 |
| POINTS | Nico Hischier | 41 |
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 49% | |
| CBJ ODDS PER DRAFTKINGS: | -112 | |
With two games left until the Olympic break, the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to stay the hottest team in the league Tuesday night with a quick trip to New Jersey and a battle against the Devils.
Columbus has won five in a row, are 8-1-0 under new head coach Rick Bowness, and are 9-1-0 in their last ten games.
The Blue Jackets dropped from 4th to 5th in the Metro division on Monday as a result of the Washington Capitals defeating the New York Islanders, but that win also brought the Blue Jackets closer to third in the division by point percentage.
The Blue Jackets are two points behind the Capitals but have three fewer games played. They still trail the third-place Islanders by four points, but with two less games played.
With another big game on tap, here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:
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After a worse-than-expected season, the Devils showed some signs of life in the middle of January with five wins in six games. But since then, they're 1-3-0 and have fallen back towards the bottom of the teams still in the hunt for a playoff spot. ... Jack Hughes is practicing but will not play in this one after an injury took him out early in the Devils' game Thursday against the Nashville Predators. Hughes is a point-a-game player this season but has only played in 36 games. ... Jakub Markstrom looks to get the start between the pipes for New Jersey. He's 15-12-1 this season but has just an .881 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.24.
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Kirill Marchenko will not play Tuesday night with an illness. In his place will be Isac Lundeström, who gets his first chance this season on the top line. Lundeström scored his second goal of the season in Saturday's win over the St. Louis Blues and has slowly shown strides under Bowness.
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By way of an assist Saturday night, Zach Werenski finished January with 20 points — good enough for second-most in a single month in franchise history (Artemi Panarin had 25 in March 2018). The assist also put him at 60 points on the season, with Werenski becoming the first NHL defenseman to hit that mark.
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With a win, the Blue Jackets will match last season's road win total at 14. They were 14-23-4 last season and are 13-12-3 this season, a drastic increase in a key factor that could help determine if they make the postseason.
- Lundeström's bump to the top of the lineup isn't the only change to the forwards. Dmitri Voronkov and Boone Jenner have flipped lines, with The Big Boss moving into a second-line wing role for this one and Jenner centering the fourth line. Defensively, Dante Fabbro is a game-time decision. The Blue Jackets report that Egor Zamula will go into the lineup if Fabbro is a scratch. Here are the complete lineup projections:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Mason Marchment | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 21 | Isac Lundeström |
| 10 | Dmitri Voronkov | 23 | Sean Monahan | 91 | Kent Johnson |
| 4 | Cole Sillinger | 3 | Charlie Coyle | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 43 | Danton Heinen | 38 | Boone Jenner | 11 | Miles Wood |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 78 | Damon Severson |
| 9 | Ivan Provorov | 5 | Denton Mateychuk |
| 15 | Dante Fabbro | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 73 | Jet Greaves |
