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Game #9
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Anaheim Ducks
Wednesday October 28, 2016 7:00 PM PST
Honda Center
TV: PRIME, FS-O
Radio: AM 830, AnaheimDucks.com
Your Enemy: Jackets Cannon
Hot off a shocking 6-1 thrashing of the Nashville Predators the Ducks hope to continue their momentum as they slowly make their way up the Pacific standings buoyed by the recent announcement of Hampus Lindholms’ 6 year contract extension.
One can assume the starting lineup will remain mostly unchanged apart for the puzzling demotion of Shea Theodore and the much more understandable reassignment of Emerson Etem. The former is likely for cap reasons and the later hopefully means the captain gets to show off his likeness on the ice for Bobblehead night.
The Blue Jackets have been wildly inconsistent to start the season, beating both Chicago and Dallas on back to back nights and then dropping the next two games against the Kings and Sharks. The Ducks are catching them on the back of that loss to the Sharks so here is hoping they come out as equally flat as the Predators did Wednesday night.
2015 8th overall pick Zach Werenski is tied for the team lead in points and is 8th in rookie scoring, tied for first among first year defensemen. Sergei Bobrovsky has started all five games and on second night of a back to back the Ducks might be seeing Curtis McElhinney in the opposing net.
The Blue Jackets are currently ranked first in the league on the Power Play, yes you read that right. So I guess the very broken record of “stay out of the box please” applies here but by the same token the Blue Jackets are struggling in the face-off circle so if the Ducks can maintain possession from puck drop they shouldn’t have too much trouble.
The Jackets second line seems to be outscoring the first - with Foligno and Wennberg leading forwards in scoring; so look for the Kesler line to match up against them. The rest of the scoring seems to be equally shared among the line-up but interestingly veteran Scott Hartnell is third among forwards despite averaging 12 minutes a game so he will need to be watched.
Final point: Its Jared Bolls first game against his former team - according to hockey reference he is still their all time Penalty Minutes leader. So um. Go punch some of you old team-mates for old times sake I guess Jared.