Columbus Blue Jackets (8th) VS St. Louis Blues (1st)

[MJK]

Jackets 43-35-5 vs Blues 50-25-7
Season Head to Head Matchup: 2-2-0-1

Blues vs Jackets

280: Goals for: 263

237: Goals Against: 238

5-2-3: Record Last 10: 7-3

7-2-1: Record Home Last 10: 7-3-0

5-3-2: Record Away last 10: 4-5-1

Olli Jokinen 39G 66A 105P +6: Leading scorer: Rich Peverly 38G 44A 82P +9

Chris Drury +18: Leading +/-: Paul Gaustad +15

Dan Boyle 120PIM’s: Leading PIM: Ryan Clowe 139 PIM’s

6th :Goals for: 10th

6th: Goals Against: 7th

5th: Power Play: 8th

6th: Penalty Kill: 8th

3rd: Shots for: 26th

3rd: Shots Against: 4th

26th: PIM/Game: 12th

8th :Hits/Game: 23rd

Keys to victory for the Jackets:

• Balanced Scoring: If the Jackets have any chance at winning in this series it will be from balanced scoring throughout the lineup. Down the stretch, the Jackets had many different contributors who helped get the Jackets into the playoffs. If they want any postseason success they will have to rely on the same individuals to step it up.

• Defense First Hockey: The Jackets will play defense first hockey in the playoffs and hope to wear down the Blues offense. The Jackets have had success this season doing this and have done an excellent job of keeping pucks out of the net. Look for Jon Quick to be a difference maker in this series. If he can’t get it done, Nittymaki has proven he can win games and is 4-0 as a blue jacket.

Players to Watch:

• Mike Richards: Richards is a guy who really struggled as a Hurricane before coming over in the Seguin trade. He was a -24 in 79 games. In his first game as a Jacket he only played 3 minutes but scored a goal and received 17PIM’s. Will Richards be able to step it up in the postseason and click with the youngsters around him? He will be playing with Ryan Clowe who is one of the hottest players in the league right now. If Richards plays well in a head to head matchup vs Jokinen it might be enough to disrupt the Blues chemistry.

• Kevin Bieksa: Since coming over in a deal with the Caps, Kevin Bieska has handled a big workload and has been very impressive so far. In 10 games with the Jackets, he has 1 goal, 7 assists and is a +9 and is averaging 24 minutes of ice time. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up in this series.

[JiriHrdina]

This is a good series on paper. Can Simmer go back to back with two different teams?

[Da_Chief]

Based on individual ratings, the two sides are evenly matched. But overall blues have better rated players.

Defence versus sim chemistry will be the battle here. I'm thinking upset here and Jackets win.

Habs Suck! so do the Blues!

[simmer2]

That's a solid summary MJK, thanks. This team is built very differently from the Habs of last year...however I do think my squad has a very good chance.

Goffie is going to enter my lines for me until probably Monday so hopefully he can get a win or two!

I do think the key to my game is having my SIM performers continue to play well. Not to be underestimated though is the fact that I had 3 of the top 7 leading scorers from the blueline which I think could be the difference-maker.

Either way, it's gonna be fun!