Amid a five-game road trip, the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to halt a two-game skid on Tuesday night when they visit the San Jose Sharks, who will welcome 2024 No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini back from injury.
The 18-year-old Celebrini hasn’t played since sustaining a lower-body injury in his NHL debut, when he notched a goal and an assist on Oct. 10 against the visiting St. Louis Blues, a 5-4 overtime loss for San Jose.
Columbus is coming off back-to-back losses to the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals in which it was outscored a combined 13-4.
The Blue Jackets lost 7-2 to the Capitals on Saturday, the second game of a back-to-back.
Damon Severson and Kevin Labanc scored for Columbus, while goaltender Daniil Tarasov gave up all seven goals on 22 shots.
“When you get down early, you all of a sudden think you have to open it up and be a little more offensive and try to score goals,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said, “as opposed to staying sound and simple and allow that to translate into offense.”
Through 11 games, Sean Monahan leads all Blue Jackets with six goals, while Kirill Marchenko has a team-leading 12 points (four goals, eight assists).
Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, 2-3-0 in five starts with a .907 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average this season, is 2-3-0 with an .896 save percentage and a 3.29 GAA in five career games against the Sharks.
Tuesday is the first of two meetings this season. The Sharks and Blue Jackets will conclude the season series on Jan. 16 in Columbus.
Columbus won both matchups last season, edging the host Sharks 4-3 on Feb. 17 and picking up a 4-2 home win on March 16.
San Jose enters Tuesday’s contest looking to rebound after having their three-game winning streak snapped in Saturday’s 3-2 home loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sharks, in the midst of a five-game homestand, picked up their first win of the season, a 5-4 come-from-behind victory against the Utah Hockey Club in overtime on Oct. 28. They then doubled up the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 and edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2.
Mikael Granlund and Nico Sturm scored in the loss to the Canucks, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves.
“We (got to) learn how to win. We have to understand what is going on in the hockey game,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We cannot have the brain lapses that we have, the line changes that we have, (the) puck play that we have and think we’re going to win hockey games in this league.”
Granlund has paced the Sharks with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 13 games.
Blackwood is 2-4-2 with a .893 save percentage and a 3.52 GAA in eight starts this season. In six career games against Columbus, Blackwood is 2-2-0 with a .940 save percentage and a 2.21 GAA.
–Field Level Media
