Columbus Blue Jackets (31-28-9, 71 pts) at Pittsburgh Penguins (28-32-10, 66 pts)
Venue: PPG Paints Arena
Date: Friday, March 21
Time: 7:00 pm EST
TV: NHL Network
Radio:
Columbus Blue Jackets – WBNS The Fan 97.1 FM
Pittsburgh Penguins – 105.9 The X
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Columbus Blue Jackets -1.5 ML -105
Pittsburgh Penguins +1.5 ML -115
O/U 5.5
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Columbus Blue Jackets News & Notes:
The Blue Jackets have lost five games in a row, three by shutout that has caused them to fall out of playoff position. Columbus has struggled on the road this season with an 11-19-4 record. The Blue Jackets may be facing the right team to snap their losing streak with Columbus winning the previous two meetings between these clubs and outscoring the Penguins 10-5.
Pittsburgh Penguins News & Notes:
The Penguins had their four-game winning streak snapped in a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh is 17-14-5 at home this season and is 5-4-1 in their last ten games. The Penguins have struggled defensively, giving up 249 goal,s the second-worst total in the league
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines:
Johnson-Fantilli-Marchenko
Voronkov-Jenner-Chinakhov
Aston-Reese-Danforth-Olivier
van Riemsdyk-Kuraly-Kunin
Werenski-Fabbro
Mateychuk-Provorov
Johnson-Severson
Merzlikins
Tarasov
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Pittsburgh Penguins Projected Lineup:
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Dewar-Malkin-Tomasino
Koppanen-Lizotte-Acciari
Heinen-Hayes-Imama
Letang-Timmins
Grzelcyk-Karlsson
Graves-Kolyachonok
Jarry
Nedeljkovic
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Players To Watch:
Columbus Blue Jackets
There isn’t one player to watch for Columbus, the offense as a whole has disappeared. The Blue Jackets have one goal by Mathieu Olivier in their last four games. Columbus needs to find it’s scoring touch again, their top five scorers (Werenski, Marchenko, K. Johnson, Fantilli, and Voronkov) have gone four games without recording a point.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby has points in five straight games and will look to extend his point streak to six games tonight against the Blue Jackets. Crosby has been productive in March with six goals and seven assists in nine games. The 37-year-old Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia native, leads the Penguins in scoring with 74 points (24g, 50a) in 68 games.
Injury Report:
Columbus Blue Jackets
C Cole Sillinger – IR
C Sean Monahan – IR
D Eric Gudbranson – IR
C Owen Sillinger – IR
RW Kevin Labanc – IR
D Jake Christiansen – Day To Day
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph – OUT
C Tommy Novak – Day To Day
Next Game:
Columbus Blue Jackets – March 24 at New York Islanders
Pittsburgh Penguins – March 23 at Florida Panthers
Season 4. Episode 39. The Off Season – Bruins Benders Podcast
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