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The Teams:
St.Louis 28-27-1-2-59 points 188GF 199 GA 11th in the Howe
PP 16.1% 14th PK 82.4% 25th GF/G 3.36 16th GA/G 3.55 25th
Pim/G 21.0 4th most SF/G 27.1 23rd SA/G 29.1 27th
Columbus 26-24-7-2-61 points 195GF 186 GA 10th in the Howe
PP 17.3% 6th PK 81.4% 29th GF/G 3.42 12th GA/G 3.26 16th
Pim/G 17.0 23rd most SF/G 28.2 15th SA/G 28.3 21st
Key Players:
St.Louis:
Forwards:
Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Daigle, Robert Lang, Ales Hemsky, Derek Armstrong, Kirk Maltby
Defence:
Richard Matvichuk, Sami Salo, Teppo Numminen, Darius Kasparaitis
Goal:
Dominek Hasek
Columbus:
Forwards:
Miroslav Satan, Eric Cole, Cory Stillman, Dave Scatchard, Pierre Turgeon, Peter Cajanek, Steve Rucchin, Mike Ricci
Defence:
Scott Niedermayer, Brian Pothier, Christian Ehrhoff, Josh Gorges
Goal:
Manny Legace
Past Results: Jackets 5 at Blues 2, Jackets 3 at Blues 4
The Blues come into Columbus to meet their Mikita Division rival Blue Jackets today. The hot and cold Blues come in currently riding a 3 game winning streak that has helped them remain in the Howe Conference playoff picture. Despite this recent surge the team sits 2 points back of the Jackets and 4 points back of the 8th place Nashville Predators for the final Howe Conference playoff spot. The Blues feature the CPHL's two best young players with Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby who are the teams two leading scorers with 59 and 58 points respectively. Recently acquired Robert Lang is hoped to bolster the forward core that also includes Alexander Daigle, and Ales Hemsky as 40 point guys. A quartet of vets anchor the Blues defence with Richard Matvichuk, Sami Salo, Teppo Numminen, and Darius Kasparaitus along with youngster Ryan Whitney all sitting above 20 points on the year. Veteran Dominek Hasek is the main guy in the nets. The ageless one has a solid 22-15-1 mark on the season and is a differnce maker.
The Jackets currently hold down 10th place in the Howe conference 2 points back of Nashville and one point back of 9th place Phoenix. The Jackets come in winners of their last two games and just concluded a stretch of 16 straight games against Gretzky Conference teams with a record of 7-6-3-1. The Jackets have been unable to get into much of a groove all year long and have been unable to keep pace with the red hot Canucks, Predators, and Coyotes of late. Up front the Jackets are lead by Miro Satan and Eric Cole with Cory Stillman and Dave Scatchard all having 40 or more points. The defence is anchored by veteran allstar Scott Niedermayer but drops off a fair bit with youngsters Josh Gorges, Christian Ehrhoff, and Garnet Exelby playing regular roles. In the nets Manny Legace is the number one guy and has posted respectable numbers for GAA and sv%.
This is a key game for both teams as Columbus can leap frog Phoenix and potentially catch Nashville by winning the game and with the help of a Pittsburgh Regulation win. It would also make for a 4 point cusion on the Blues. The Blues could pull even with the Jackets if they win and have a game in hand on the aforementioned teams above them.
Both organizations have a histroy of being just outside the playoff picture in recent seasons. St.Louis has the talent to make a run now, but on ice the results are mixed thus far. Although the recent addition of Robert Lang seems to have them moving in the right direction. Columbus has probably played better than the sum of the parts would indicate. It's hoped that the recent additions of Steve Rucchin and Karel Rachunek will help the team push foward and edge into a playoff spot.
Should make for a good game tonight.
CPHL Spike TV game of the week
