Pre-Game Thoughts: Jackets Hope to Brew Up a Win in Beantown

The 14-11-6 Columbus Blue Jackets will look to win their second game in a row as they travel to Boston to take on the 17-11-3 Boston Bruins. The Bruins dropped their last game against the New Jersey Devils, and will also be looking to get back in the win column.

Keys to lighting em' up

Not a lot of history between these two squads, but the Bruins are a team that is ahead of them in the standings, albeit in the Eastern Conference standings. Thus the Jackets should have no problem getting motivated for this one.

The key here is to channel that motivation, play their game, and get ready for a tough road game.

According to Puck-rakers, Hitch is riding the hot hand between the pipes and is going with Fredrick Norrena. Just like the last game against Colorado, Norrena will have to make the saves he should, and the team in front of him will have to get him goal support.

Take advantage of Bruin goaltender injuries

Both Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas are out with injuries. Rookie Tuukka Rask and new acquisition Alex Auld are manning the pipes for the B's. The Jackets must use this to their advantage and pounce. Auld has played decent so far as a Bruin, and has a 2.97 GAA and a .901 Save Percentage.

Shut down Savard

The Bruins main offensive cog is Marc Savard. He leads the team with 37 points. Typically, as Savard goes, their offense follows.

Nash needs to come alive. The monster has been quiet on the score sheet during the past 3 games. Time to awake the recently sleeping giant.

Identical twins

Both Columbus and Boston have given up 78 goals in 31 games played. Both teams play a strong defensive game. Boston has only scored two more goals than the Jackets, with 83 goals for versus our 81.

This is gonna be a tightly checked game, and both teams will look to be opportunistic, create turnovers, and convert on PP chances. The Jackets will need to be just slightly better in those areas to come out with two points.

Special teams

It's the Jackets fifth ranked PK versus the Bruins' 11th ranked PP—whomever wins this game within a game will probably grab the two points.

On the flip side, the Bruins own the league's worst PK, so the Jackets' 20th ranked PP needs to take advantage.

This is only one of three road games of the month for the Jackets. They were able to knock off the Calgary Flames earlier, so they will be looking to do the same versus the Bruins.

The Jackets are 5-7-2 on the road. Hitch stated at the beginning of the season that for this team to really challenge for a playoff birth, they will need to have a .500 road record. Tomorrow is a golden opportunity to pull within one game of that goal three months into the season.

Should be a fun one. I've been to the old Boston Garden, but haven't been to the new building, so I am looking forward to the experience.

A couple of small blue biscuits to share before I end this post:

-Puck-rackers shot down the rumors of a Boston-Columbus deal, saying that the Jackets are not looking to move anyone at the time.

-There was a pretty good sized trade today, as the St. Louis Blues dealt 37 year old center Doug Weight along with a prospect and 7th round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for 30 year old Andy McDonald. Both players have struggled but I think the Blues got the better end of this one by gaining an explosive offensive player—imagine he and Kariya, yikes! The Ducks on the other hand basically cleared cap space to add Niedermeyer back to their lineup. From a Jackets perspective, this deal sucks because I think the Blues just got better.

Go Jackets! Lets show these folks in Beantown this team isn't the same old doormat it used to be!

-LTL