Preview: Bruins get right back at it in Columbus

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7 PM

Where: Nationwide Arena - Columbus, OH

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Rival SBN site: Jackets Cannon

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Know your enemy

• 3-5-0, 6 points, last in the Metropolitan Division
• Johnny Gaudreau: 5G-3A-8PTS; Kent Johnson: 3G-2A-5PTS; Jack Roslovic: 1G-4A-5PTS; Yegor Chinakhov: 1G-4A-5PTS
• Elvis Merzlikins: 2-2-0, 4.06 GAA, .863 save percentage

Game notes

• No break for the B’s! After a 5-1 drubbing of Detroit last night, the Bruins set their sights on another midwest-based opponent in Columbus.
• While the back-to-back is annoying, Jim Montgomery noted during his Marchand Mania press conference yesterday that this is the B’s last back-to-back until December.
• Interested in reading about tonight’s game from a Columbus perspective? Check out Jackets Cannon’s preview!
• Per those same friends at Jackets Cannon’s preview, David Jiricek is expected to make his NHL debut for Columbus tonight. Jiricek was the 6th overall pick in last summer’s draft.
• The Blue Jackets have been up and down as of late. Last weekend, they had impressive 5-1 road win over the Rangers in New York; they followed that up with a 6-3 home loss to Arizona.
• Columbus has only allowed fewer than three goals on one occasion this season, the aforementioned win over the Rangers. Other than that, their goals-against stat line isn’t pretty: 4, 5, 5, 3, 3, 6, 6.
• While the wins haven’t come, big offseason signing Johnny Gaudreau has been as advertised, with five goals and averaging a point per game.
• At least some Blue Jackets fans are already frustrated with the slow start and poor decision-making after such an exciting offseason.
• Old buddy old pal Sean Kuraly has three points (1G, 2A) to start the year.
• The Blue Jackets did recently get a big boost in the form of Patrik Laine, who returned after suffering an elbow injury in the season opener. He was originally slated to miss several weeks, but returned on Tuesday.
• David Krejci will not play tonight after leaving the Detroit game with an injury. Matt Porter noted that Krejci didn’t appear to be sporting any sort of visible ailment after the game.
• Brad Marchand also won’t play tonight, but that was planned.
• With Krejci out, it appears Pavel Zacha will likely be at one of the center spots, at least for tonight.
• Linus Ullmark will start.

See ya tonight!