About the Blue Jackets - 02-26-12
A preview of the Blue Jackets.
When and where: 1 p.m. EST. Consol Energy Center.
TV: Root Sports, Fox Sports Ohio.
Record: 18-36-7, 43 points. The Blue Jackets are in last place in the Western Conference and the Central Division.
Leading Scorer: Rick Nash (right), 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists).
Last Game: 5-0 home loss to the Avalanche, Friday. Steve Mason made 20 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road win, Feb. 8. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for the Penguins.
Blue Jackets Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Nash. He has nine points in nine career games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Blue Jackets: Mark Letestu, C; Craig Patrick, senior advisor - hockey operations; Todd Richards, interim head coach (Richards used to be the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins); Tyler Wright, director of amateur Scouting and development coach.
Ex-Blue Jackets on the Penguins: None.
Useless Blue Jackets Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The first five shutouts in Blue Jackets history were recorded by former Penguins goaltender Ron Tugnutt.
Best Blue Jackets Video We Could Find: Rick Nash torching the Coyotes for a brilliant game-winning goal late in a 4-3 win against the Coyotes in the 2007-08 season:
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Probable goaltenders: The Penguins have not said if Marc Andre Fleury (32-14-3, 2.34 GAA, .912 SV%) or Brad Thiessen (20-14-4, 2.88 GAA, .885 SV% in the AHL) would get the start. Curtis Sanford (8-22-3, 3.49 GAA; .886 SV%) for the Blue Jackets.
Injuries: For the Penguins, goaltender Brent Johnson (undisclosed) is day to day. Center Sidney Crosby (head/neck) and center Tyler Kennedy (ankle) are on injured reserve. For the Blue Jackets, right winger Jared Boll (foot), left winger Kristian Huselius ("lower body), defensemen Radek Martinek (head) and Marc Methot (jaw) are injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins primary lines and defensive pairings against the Lightning yesterday were:
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Steve Sullivan - Jordan Staal - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Joe Vitale - Arron Asham
Eric Tangradi - Craig Adams - Richard Park
Paul Martin - Kris Letang
Brooks Orpik - Zbynek Michalek
Matt Niskanen - Deryk Engelland
-With the additions of center Darryl Boyce and defenseman Jack Johnson, consider this a guess at Blue Jackets lines and defensive pairings based off their game against the Avalanche Friday:
R.J. Umberger - Derrick Brassard - Rick Nash
Vaclav Prospal - Mark Letestu - Cam Atkinson
Darryl Boyce - Samuel Pahlsson - Derek Dorsett
Colton Gillies - Derek MacKenzie - Ryan Johansen
Fedor Tyutin - Nikita Nikitin
James Moore - James Wisniewski
Jack Johnson - Brett Lebda
Notes:
-Neal has 197 career points.
-Malkin has 495 career points.
-Umberger has 297 career points.
-Johnson is expected to make his debut with the Blue Jackets. He was acquired in a trade which sent center Jeff Carter to the Kings.
-Sanford missed the previous six games due to a back injury.
-The Blue Jackets claimed Boyce off waivers from the Maple Leafs, placed defenseman Grant Clitsome and forward Ryan Russell on waivers and demoted defenseman David Savard to Springfield of the AHL.
-Our live blog begins approximately at noon. Please tune in.
(Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)