Blue Jackets aim to find form in Finland
Photo by: David Heasley / Columbus Wired
The Columbus Blue Jackets are just hours away from dropping the puck against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche inFinland. The two teams battle in a pair of contests as part of the NationalHockey League’s Global Series. It also marks the second time the CBJ has played meaningful games in Europe.
Columbus opened the 2010-11 season in Stockholm, Sweden as they battled the San Jose Sharks. The Jackets fell 3-2 in the first game but received a 33 save performance from Steve Mason and a game winner from Ethan Moreau to split the series.
The Jackets look to bounce back as the team has been in a noticeable rut which culminated with the Union Blue closing out the month of October with a 7-1 defeat to the New Jersey Devils. Columbus hopes that a change of scenery (or change of continent) will do wonders in writing the ship.
Patrik Laine and Joonas Korpisalo return to their home country looking to provide a spark.
"Obviously it's great for Patty to come out here and play in Finland, but these are important games for us,” Johnny Gaudreau told Jackets Insider Jeff Svoboda. "We need to get going here and try to climb our way back out of the little hole we've put ourselves into."
Laine enjoys a little home cooking anytime he returns to Finland.
As a member of the Winnipeg Jets, the winger collected a hat trick to push his team to victory when they visited Helsinki back in 2018.
Columbus is tied for the second lowest goal total in the league (26) and look to get its powerplay rolling in hopes of remedying its scoring troubles. The Avalanche have struggled on the penalty kill. If there was a time to strike, the time is now for the Jackets.
Believe it or not, one of the strongest sources of offensefor the Blue Jackets comes from the blueline. Columbus has seven goals from defensemen this season, a mark that is fifth best in the league. That number includes two tallies from defenseman Andrew Peeke in the last four games.
Columbus begins its European swing Friday, November 4 with puck drop scheduled for 2 PM.