Game Preview: Greaves Starts, Blue Jackets "Positive" Going Into Tuesday's Game Against Hurricanes

The Columbus Blue Jackets (38-24-12, 88 points) must put a rough weekend behind them Tuesday when they square off with the Carolina Hurricanes (46-21-6) in a nationally televised game with huge playoff implications.

It's the first leg of a home-and-home between the two clubs, who will meet again Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Blue Jackets picked up just one of a possible four points in their back-to-back games at Nationwide Arena over the weekend, giving up the game-winning goal in the final 90 seconds Saturday to the San Jose Sharks and the game-tying goal with just 11 seconds left Sunday to the Boston Bruins.

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The Blue Jackets would lose to the Bruins in a shootout, sending them to an 0-1-1 weekend and a 1-3-1 mark in their last five games. They still hold a playoff spot, but barely.

Head coach Rick Bowness was direct after the OTL.

"Some of these guys, they've got a lot to learn about how to play in this league this time of year," Bowness said. "It gets harder and harder and harder. And we're going to keep reminding them and reminding them every day how hard it is to win at this time of the year."

"It's all going to be positive going into Tuesday," Bowness added.

Here are five things to know before the 7:30 p.m. puck-drop:

• Carolina enters this game with five wins in their last eight games. The losses: the Montreal Canadiens twice, including a 4-2 loss Sunday, and the Blue Jackets on March 17. The 5-1 loss to Columbus that night tied the Hurricanes largest margin of defeat this season, and Bowness knows they'll bring their best. "They're a proud team and they're going to try and come in here and prove that wasn't their team," Bowness said. ... Brandon Bussi will get the net, per Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour. Bussi is 27-6-1 as a starter and has a 2.45 goals against average, but has an .894 save percentage — below the league average of .897. 
   
• Shot attempts were a real problem over the weekend for the Blue Jackets, especially after the first period. At even strength, the opposition had a 99-48 lead on the Blue Jackets from the second period on. In all situations, it was 116-51 in favor of the Sharks and Bruins after the first 20 minutes. That's nearly 70% of all shot attempts.
   
• Jet Greaves will start for the fifth time in six games. Greaves stopped 36 of the Bruins' 39 shots Sunday, giving him a save percentage above .920 for the third time in his last four starts. For the season, Greaves has a .910 save percentage and 2.56 goals against average. He'll be going for his 25th win of the season Tuesday.
   
• Zach Werenski Watch: the defenseman has 77 points with eight games left on the schedule. He'll need 10 points to tie, and 11 to break, Artemi Panarin's single-season franchise record of 87 points. Werenski is without a point in three straight games, which is tied for his longest streak of the season.
   
• With Mathieu Olivier out for a couple of weeks and Dmitri Voronkov also out week-to-week, the Blue Jackets called up forward Luca Del Bel Belluz from the Cleveland Monsters. He'll be a healthy scratch for this one, though. Kent Johnson is back in the lineup and will play on the fourth line. Defensive pairings have been tossed around a bit, as well. Here are the complete projections: