Mike Commodore and the Columbus Blue Jackets are in town to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at the RBC. The Blue Jackets have won three games in a row, including a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings last night. The Hurricanes are coming off a disappointing 5-0 loss to rival Florida on Thursday night.
Boy wonder, Steve Mason was back in net for Columbus last night. The rookie has the lowest GAA in the league, (2.09), and leads the league with 7 shutouts. He has been fighting the affects of mono, so it is questionable if coach Ken Hitchcock will start him again tonight. If he does not play, ex-Islander Wade Dubielewicz will assume the position.
As you can see from the stat line, it would be huge for Carolina if Mason sat this one out, although according to Yahoo Sports, Mason will indeed get the call again for this game.
Rick Nash leads the team in scoring, but after him the production falls off a bit.
Mike Commodore is having a solid season for them on defense and is a plus, (+10), which would be tops on the Canes.
Remarkably, both teams have the exact same record, (27-23-5), and both are on the outside, looking for a big win to help them to get closer to the playoffs. The last time the two teams met, the Blue Jackets came out on top of a 4-1 beating last season.
The Hurricanes will be trying to stop the bleeding from the 5-0 embarrassment they suffered at the hands of the Panthers on Thursday night. While they claim they played better than what the score indicates, that leaves little solace in the fact that they now find themselves 5 points out of the playoffs.
Cam Ward is expected to be back between the pipes.
Ray Whitney leads the team with 44 points and Eric Staal is next with 39.
Dennis Seidenberg has been activated off of the injured reserve and will play tonight. Impressive rookie, Bryan Rodney was sent back to Albany until the next injury presents itself. For the second time this season, Frank Kaberle was put on waivers. Is Jim Rutherford feeling lucky?
Game time starts at 7 tonight and the game will be on FS Carolinas. I will have another open "live game thread" here starting at 6:30 for those of you stuck at home, but I will not be working tonight and will not be present. I'm not sure if Cory will pop in either, but feel free to carry on whether we are here or not!
Happy Valentine's Day to all.