The two worst teams in the National Hockey League will meet tonight when the Blue Jackets (4-11-0, 8 pts.) host the St. Louis Blues (2-9-3, 7 pts.) at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets are offering a College Night promotion for tonight’s game. The $23 College Night package includes a ticket to tonight’s game, a ticket to a post-game screening of “Old School” at the Arena Grand Theater, six wings from Buffalo Wild Wings and a T-shirt. Packages are available at www.bluejackets.com.
On the ice, the Jackets return home from a four-game road trip in which they failed to gain a single point. Superstar forward Rick Nash returned to action after recovering from an ankle injury but went back on the injured reserve list when he suffered a sprained knee during a Nov. 3 game at Calgary. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. Columbus is last in the league in scoring with only 28 goals in 15 games, and losing Nash will not help.
There were only 11 forwards in practice Tuesday morning, but the team recalled Steve Goertzen from Syracuse of the AHL in the afternoon. Columbus will need as much help scoring goals as it can get.
“We’re going to have to score three or four goals to win hockey games and it’s going to have to be by everybody on the team,” Gallant said.
As for goaltending, the tandem of Marc Denis (2-8, 3.69 GAA) and Martin Prusek (2-1, 2.10) will have to do for now unless a trade is pulled off. Backup goalies Pascal Leclaire and Andrew Penner were injured on consecutive nights while playing for Syracuse.
Columbus’ leading point scorer is defenseman Bryan Berard, who has three goals and nine assists. His seven-game scoring streak is the longest by any Blue Jacket this year and he has tied Ray Whitney’s franchise-record six-game assist streak. David Vyborny leads the team in goals with four.
On the other side, things are no better for the Blues. They are on a team record eight-game losing streak and are missing veteran left winger Keith Tkachuk (groin strain and cracked ribs) for at least another week. Defenseman Christian Backman is also out with a left shoulder injury.
The Blues are led by forwards Petr Cajanek (2-12-14), Scott Young (4-9-13) and Doug Weight (2-8-10). Jamal Mayers leads the team in goals with six.
“(The Blues) have a good team. I think they’ve probably been disappointed with their start,” Blue Jackets captain Luke Richardson said. “We have to be careful because they can score goals. They’ve always been very good on the power play.”
Richardson said the team needs to stop taking obstruction penalties in the offensive and neutral zones, and to be more aware of the differences between older, more lenient referees and newer ones who are calling more penalties.
“If we can play a good solid disciplined game but still stay aggressive that’ll be a key,” he said.
St. Louis’ greatest weakness is its goaltending. Patrick Lalime’s 3.99 goals against average is the worst in the NHL.
“If you look at their situation they’re the same as us,” Richardson said. “It might be one of the most exciting games with two teams battling it out to get back up to respectability.”
Columbus counters with the worst power-play scoring in the league. The Jackets have scored just ten power play goals in 96 opportunities.
Gallant said that his team is trying to stay positive because it is still early in the season.
“You look up and you say ‘Four wins and we’re right there,'” Gallant said. “If we win some games and get a good little streak going together then we’re right back in the race.”
