| CBJ | CAR | |
|---|---|---|
| 18-15-4 | ROAD / HOME | 26-10-2 |
| 3.11 | GOALS FOR | 3.49 |
| 3.05 | GOALS AGAINST | 2.91 |
| 19.9% | POWER PLAY | 24.6% |
| 76.4% | PENALTY KILL | 80.5% |
| 29.5 | SHOTS FOR | 32.6 |
| 29.2 | SHOTS AGAINST | 24.0 |
| 50.4% | FACEOFF % | 50.3% |
| HURRICANES: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| SAT, 3/28 | vs. Devils | W, 5-2 |
| SUN, 3/29 | vs. Canadiens | L, 3-1 |
| TUE, 3/31 | @ Blue Jackets | W, 5-2 |
| HURRICANES: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS | Seth Jarvis | 30 |
| ASSISTS | Sebastian Aho | 50 |
| POINTS | Sebastian Aho | 75 |
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 35% | |
| CBJ ODDS PER DRAFTKINGS: | +154 | |
A home-and-home series concludes Thursday in Raleigh when the Columbus Blue Jackets (38-25-12, 88 points) faceoff against the Carolina Hurricanes (47-21-6, 100 points) for the second time in three nights.
Carolina won the first one 5-2, taking an early 2-0 lead on a pair of power play goals.
The Blue Jackets would tie the game at 2-2 early in the third before giving up three goals, including an empty-netter, over the final eight minutes.
Despite the loss, the Blue Jackets kept — and still keep — the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
That would change tonight with a regulation loss, as the winner of the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers game would move ahead of the Blue Jackets on the games played tiebreaker. The Ottawa Senators, with a win against the Buffalo Sabres, would also move ahead of the Blue Jackets in that scenario.
Needless to say: this is a huge game for Columbus.
Here are five things to know before the 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:
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With a win, the Hurricanes will clinch a playoff spot. They currently are up eight points on the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are second in the Metropolitan division. Until the division is wrapped up officially, the Canes still have work to do. ... Frederik Andersen will start this time around for Carolina. He's 13-13-5 this season with a 3.16 goals against average and .871 save percentage. He's allowed 13 goals over his last four starts, including four or more twice.
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Head coach Rick Bowness said Elvis Merzlikins gets the net for the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Merzlikins has allowed three goals or less in each of his last four starts (2-1-1) and for the season has brought his goals against average down to 3.34 and his save percentage up to .886.
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The 16 points by Adam Fantilli (seven goals, nine assists) and Kirill Marchenko (six goals, 10 assists) were tied for the team lead for the month of March. Marchenko's goal Tuesday ended an eight-game goalless streak, tied for his longest drought of the season.
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Werenski Watch: Z picked up an assist Tuesday night to move to 78 points (21 goals, 57 assists) on the season. He needs nine points to tie Artemi Panarin and ten to break Bread's record of most points in a season in franchise history (87). Werenski is also just three assists away from becoming the first player in franchise history with 60 assists in a season; Werenski and Panarin share that record, at 59. Werenski also needs four points to tie his career high of 82, set last season.
- There will be several game-time decisions per Bowness, including Mason Marchment and Isac Lundeström. He's also indicated that the plan is to get Luca Del Bel Belluz into the lineup, as well. If (at least) one of Marchment or Lundeström end up out, that's where Del Bel Belluz slots in. If both are in, he could take the place of a myriad of Jackets: Danton Heinen, Miles Wood, or Kent Johnson would be the best guesses. Zach Aston-Reese was called up Wednesday, and it's a possibility that he is in the lineup, as well. Here are the complete projections:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Mason Marchment | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 86 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 38 | Boone Jenner | 23 | Sean Monahan | 83 | Conor Garland |
| 4 | Cole Sillinger | 3 | Charlie Coyle | 43 | Danton Heinen |
| 91 | Kent Johnson | 65 | Luca Del Bel Belluz | 11 | Miles Wood |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 15 | Dante Fabbro |
| 6 | Egor Zamula | 9 | Ivan Provorov |
| 5 | Denton Mateychuk | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Elvis Merzlikins | 73 | Jet Greaves |
