Game Preview: Blue Jackets, Fighting To Stay Alive In Playoff Race, Face Canadiens In Montreal In Regular Season Road Finale

No matter what, the Columbus Blue Jackets (39-28-12, 90 points) can't be mathematically eliminated Saturday night when they go to battle against the Montreal Canadiens (47-22-10, 104 points).

But a win sure would feel good.

In fact, with a victory — yes, an arduous task right now for a team that is 2-7-1 in their last ten games — they could find themselves back in playoff position before the night is over.

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For that to happen, it would also take regulation losses by the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders. The fact that it's true, though, should be enough to give the Blue Jackets reason to play their best game of the season when the puck drops tonight north of the border.

Despite the 5-0 final on the scoreboard Thursday night in Buffalo, it was a tight, 1-0 game in the third period. The Blue Jackets got 37 shots on goal off, but Sabres rookie Colten Ellis played the game of his life and the Blue Jackets aggressive play late led to a series of goals resulting in a final score that overstated the Buffalo's control of the game.

“Listen, if we play like that again on Saturday, we’ll be fine,” head coach Rick Bowness said. “Their goalie stole the game for them tonight. That was all us in the second period. You hit a couple goal posts, you get that many chances, you think the puck is going to go in... it didn’t go in for us."

"It’s about how hungry we are, and I know we’ll answer the bell," Bowness said. "We’ll be there Saturday.”

Here are five other things to know before yet another critical 7:00 p.m. puck-drop:

• This is the final home game of the regular season for the playoff-bound Canadiens, who come into this one just two points back of the Sabres for first place in the Atlantic division. A win would mean each team is at 106 points with two games left on the schedule. ... Cole Caufield's 50th goal of the season came Thursday evening, becoming the first Montreal player to hit 50 since Stéphane Richer in the 1989-90 season. ... Former Ohio State Buckeye Jakub Dobes is expected to get the start for the Habs. Hot goalie alert: Dobes been dynamite as of late, winning each of his last seven starts and posting a .948 save percentage. He's allowed two goals or less in five of those seven starts.
   
• For the Blue Jackets, Jet Greaves will get the start. After a pretty even rotation early in his tenure, Bowness has relied more on Greaves down the stretch. He has a 2.61 goals against and .908 save percentage on the season, both well above the league averages.
   
• Zach Werenski's next assist will give him 59 on the season and tie his own (and Artemi Panarin's) franchise record for most apples in a season. Werenski's 26 multi-point games is already a Columbus franchise record and also lead all NHL defensemen. Zach also needs just two more points to tie his career high of 82 points in a season, which he set in the 2024-25 campaign.
   
• The Blue Jackets are 2-1-0 after being shutout this season. It's only happened once under Bowness — a 1-0 loss last month to the Islanders — and Columbus responded with a 3-2 win two nights later against the Philadelphia Flyers.
   
• Lines were quite different at Saturday morning's practice. Of note: Isac Lundeström was on the top line, perhaps a nod from Bowness to let his linemates — Kirill Marchenko and Adam Fantilli — know to do whatever they have to offensively and let Lundeström, a defensive-oriented forward, worry about that part of it. Defensively, Jake Christiansen comes back in for Egor Zamula and will be on a third pair likely to see limited minutes. Here are the complete lineups: