The Jackets kick off their longest road trip of the season tonight in the Big D.
Dallas is off to a solid start going 9-5-6 and are coming off a big road win in Detroit last night.
The Jackets are on a nice little roll of their own going 3-1 in their 4 game home stand.
Tonight's tilt should be a good matchup.. at least on paper.
OFFENSE
Dallas has played 1 more game than the Jackets and have scored 4 more goals. That pretty much tells us right there how close these two offenses are.
At look at the stats for Dallas and it's James Neal (love this dude!) and Brad Richards who are racking up the points with 22 each. They have some solid support as well with guys like Ribeiro, Morrow and Eriksson with 14 or more points. They've got two solid scoring lines than can get it done with that group. Not a whole lot from the backend however with Robidas checking in as the leader with 10 points.
For the Jackets it continues to be Nash with 24 points then everyone else. Vermette sits with 15 points and then it's Juice and Voracek each with 12 a piece. The Jackets have similar production to Dallas on their blueline with Stralman leading the blueline men with 11 points.
Dallas has the better top 2 lines but I think Columbus has the better overall group of forwards from 1st line to 4th - especially with Torres back in the lineup as he's expected to be.
Edge: Push
DEFENSE
Dallas hasn't been as prone to the blowouts as the Jackets have this year. Their 58 goals against have been spread pretty evenly over their 20 contests. They are mid pack giving up 2.7 goals per game.
The Jackets as we know have been very prone to giving up goals in bushels this season and that is very evident by their 68 goals against yet they are still 5 games over .500. They check in at 28th in the league giving up on avg 3.42 goals per game.
I like Dallas' consistency on their backend but we know if the Jackets come to play their game they can definitely take care of business in their own end. The question is which defense will we see from the Jackets? The one against Detroit or the one against Anaheim, Carolina and Edmonton?
Hopefully the latter... at least it better be if they expect to contain this group top 6 forwards. Neal and Morrow play physical to that group while guys like Richards, Riberio and Eriksson bring that skill flare to the lineup -- a nice mix.
Edge: Stars
GOALTENDING
Very interesting that the Stars decided to hold out Turco last night and save him for the Jackets. It's almost like they were conceding a loss to the Wings who are very difficult to beat at home and stacking their deck for Columbus. Well whatever the strategy was it worked as the Stars handed the Wings their first regulation home loss of the season last night.
So now the Jackets get Turco and his 2.24 GAA and .920 Save%.
As for the Jackets just when I think I have Hitch figured out he throws another curveball. I'll go on record now and say I completely disagree with starting Mason in this game. Garon is hot and I'm a firm believer you ride the hot hand until it cools off. Mase is still the #1 guy but it's a long season and there is absolutely no denying his struggles this year. Just look below:
You've got to play the guys who give you the best chance to win (that's what we're told on Filatov right?) -- I believe Garon is the guy at the moment.
Edge: Stars
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Jackets 7th ranked PP has been it's lifeline this year. Who could have ever guessed that comin in eh? They'll need it to continue.
Dallas' PP isn't bad sitting at 18th.
On the flip side Dallas' PK checks in 14th while the Jackets continue to struggle at 24th.
Dallas again is the more well rounded of the two but if the Jackets can stay out of the box (big "if") and strike when Dallas is in it this game is theirs for the taking.
Edge: Push
X FACTOR
Here's an interesting stat I read on CBSSports.com -- the Stars have only won two games in a row once. This will be the tail end of a back 2 back in which they traveled from Detroit to Dallas. They also have a subpar home record of 3-2-3.
The Jackets have no excuses. They are rested and are getting healthy. They must take advantage of all this and continue these negative trends for the Stars.
Not allowing Dallas to lead after the first period won't hurt either. They have an .800 winning percentage when hitting the locker room up after the first 20.
Would also like to see Derick Brassard get back on track tonight. This is the team whom the Jackets lost Brassard for the season after 25 games last season.
GO JACKETS!!
-LTL
