Sharks at Blue Jackets
THE STORY: While the present looks pretty bleak in Columbus, there may be some hope in the future for the downtrodden Blue Jackets. Tomas Kubalik and Ryan Russell each scored his first career goal and Columbus won its first home game in exactly one month by beating Phoenix 4-3 on Friday night. It also was a milestone for interim coach Todd Richards, who earned his first victory since taking over when Scott Arniel was fired Monday. For a team buried at the bottom of the league standings, any victory counts as a noteworthy feat. Another of the Blue Jackets' youngsters, Ryan Johansen, has reason to feel upbeat after he was one of 12 rookies named to participate at the 2012 NHL All-Star Weekend. Now back to the present, Columbus will look to pull off back-to-back victories for only the second time this season when the team hosts the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSCA, FSOH
ABOUT THE SHARKS (24-11-5): Logan Couture was named San Jose’s lone representative to the All-Star Game on Thursday and he celebrated appropriately by delivering the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win at Winnipeg. It was the team-high 18th tally of the season for Couture, who didn’t take his All-Star selection in stride. “Twenty-two years old and going to an All-Star game is awesome,” he said. Antti Niemi earned his second shutout of the season, but Thomas Greiss will get the start Saturday.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (12-26-5): Key injuries continue to pile up for Columbus. C Jeff Carter was placed on injured reserve Friday due to a separated shoulder suffered in Sunday’s game against Anaheim. LW R.J. Umberger sat out Friday’s game against Phoenix with a concussion. He has played in a franchise-record 288 straight games since joining the Blue Jackets in 2008. The injury also ended his streak of consecutive games at 291, the fifth-longest among active players in the league.
OVERTIME:
1. San Jose is 17-1-3 when leading after two periods this season.
2. Kubalik and Russell aren’t the only Columbus players to notch their first goals in the same game this season. Johansen and D John Moore did it on Oct. 25.
3. Although the Sharks have won six of the last nine meetings with the Blue Jackets, they have been limited to two goals or fewer six times.
PREDICTION: Sharks 3, Blue Jackets 1.