Blue Jackets at Panthers Preview

Columbus has now lost six straight games, and this season has gone from bad to worse. The Blue Jackets have now fallen to last place in the Central Division, which has been a very disappointing campaign.

The Florida Panthers are in a first-place tie atop the Central Division, and this team just continues to surprise the rest of the league. Florida has gone just 3-4 in their last seven games, but they are not a fun team to deal with. 

The Florida Panthers are -215 on the money line in this matchup on Tuesday night. 

Special Teams a Problem For Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets have not done anything particularly well this season, but their special team’s play has been the biggest disappointment. Columbus is killing off less than 80 percent of their penalties, and they have really struggled to score on the power play as well.

Getting shots on goal has also been a problem for this team, and Oliver Bjorkstrand has been the only consistent offensive threat. The Right Winger leads the team with 15 goals, and the Blue Jackets struggle to win when he doesn’t light the lamp.

Columbus actually played a solid defensive game against Florida on Monday night, allowing just four goals. It will take another solid effort to keep this second meeting against the Panthers close. 

Young Talent on Display for Florida

The Florida Panthers are one of the youngest teams in the league, and that should actually provide some hope for the Blue Jackets. Columbus is hoping that this current rebuild goes a well as it has for Florida, but finding offense will be a big key.

The Panthers are scoring nearly 3.2 goals per game, and they come at opponents with a fast-paced style of hockey. Jonathan Huberdeau leads the team with 31 assists and 46 points, and Columbus will need to know where he is at on the ice.

Florida will give up some goals, but the Blue Jackets have not been able to take advantage of this in the previous meetings this season. 

Columbus Just Continues to Lose

The Blue Jackets did actually appear to show some signs of improvement on Monday night, but it just wasn’t enough to win the game. Columbus just can’t find enough offense to really challenge other teams in this league, especially a team like the Florida Panthers.

Florida is using this matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets to get things back on track, and they were just good enough to win on Monday night. Look for the Panthers to play even better on Tuesday, and that’s not going to be fun for Columbus. 

The Blue Jackets are going to snap this brutal losing streak at some point, and this could be the game to get it done. It will take a great offensive performance from the Blue Jackets to get this done, and they have not yet proven that this can be accomplished.