Blue Jackets at Golden Knights
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Vegas Golden Knights each appear to be back on track, posting consecutive wins following long losing streaks. After dropping five straight, Columbus rebounded with wins at Colorado and Arizona and looks to wrap up a perfect three-game road trip on Saturday against the Golden Knights, who will play their next four and eight of nine at home.
"We're just focused on our game," Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner said. "We've got one more game on this road trip and have got to close it out the right way." The saga of Columbus leading scorer Artemi Panarin took the spotlight Friday when he revealed he switched agents and told reporters: "I want to test free agency." Vegas halted a four-game slide with wins at league-best Tampa Bay and Detroit and now looks to take advantage of the cluster of games at T-Mobile Arena. "We usually play real good in our building," coach Gerard Gallant said. "Hopefully we can gain a lot of points over the next eight or nine games."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN-Plus, FS Ohio (Columbus), AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain (Las Vegas)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (30-20-3): Forward Josh Anderson is coming alive at the right time for Columbus, scoring the tiebreaking goal in the third period at Colorado before delivering the game-winner to beat Arizona. "Josh has a chance to really lead this team in that type of position as a power forward to help us get over the hump," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "He's a good hockey player. He can do a lot of different things to change the momentum of the game." Anderson has scored in three of the last four games to give him 18 goals, one shy of last season's career high.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (31-21-4): Jonathan Marchessault, who had scored in only two of 17 games -- one was a hat trick -- entering the finale of the road trip, had a pair of goals at Detroit to move within one of reaching 20 for the third consecutive season. Also breaking out of a lengthy slump was 2017-18 leading scorer William Karlsson, who scored one goal and set up another after collecting just one tally and a pair of assists in the previous 14 games. Backup netminder Malcolm Subban, sidelined since he was hurt against New Jersey on Jan. 6, was activated off injured reserve Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves in a 1-0 shutout over Vegas on Dec. 17.
2. Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury is 9-5-2 with a 2.32 goals-against average versus Columbus.
3. Panarin signed with the agent who represents Bobrovsky. Both players will be unrestricted free agents in July.