The Columbus Blue Jackets are on their second game of four on their southern road trip with this evening’s tilt hailing from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The Blue Jackets conclude their third and final meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Fox Sports. Watch party is also at the Columbus Brewing Company downtown with prizes.

The Blue Jackets and Bolts are split on the season series, with both teams even at 6-6 in the goal scoring. Both games wound up being a 4-2 result. Since they last met, the Lightning added to their depth by acquiring Matt Dumba from Arizona and Columbus legend Anthony Duclair from San Jose.

Boone Jenner remains questionable dealing with the grief of the tragic family loss. The Cleveland Monsters goaltending tandem remains the Blue Jackets’ duo. The defense is still crippled with the loss of Jake Bean on the season.

A Tampa loss may cement them in the first wild card spot with them likely facing Boston in the first round. A Tampa win will get them four points behind the Leafs. A Columbus loss or win keeps them at 29th overall in the league standings.

Andrei Vaslievsky gets the go against Jet Greaves.

Projected Lineups

Tampa Bay Lightning

Anthony Duclair -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Steven Stamkos

Michael Eyssimont -- Nicholas Paul -- Mitchell Chaffee

Tanner Jeannot -- Luke Glendening -- Tyler Motte

Victor Hedman -- Darren Raddysh

Matt Dumba -- Erik Cernak

Emil Lilleberg -- Nick Perbix

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Matt Tomkins

Scratched: Conor Sheary

Injured: Haydn Fleury (upper body), Jonas Johansson (lower body), Mikhail Sergachev (leg surgery)

Columbus Blue Jackets

Johnny Gaudreau -- Dmitri Voronkov -- Alex Nylander

Alexandre Texier -- Cole Sillinger -- Kirill Marchenko

Mikael Pyyhtia -- Sean Kuraly -- Justin Danforth

James Malatesta -- Brendan Gaunce -- Mathieu Olivier

Zach Werenski -- Damon Severson

Ivan Provorov -- Erik Gudbranson

Nick Blankenburg -- David Jiricek

Jet Greaves

Malcolm Subban

Scratched: Carson Meyer

Injured: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration), (lower body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Adam Boqvist (upper body), Elvis Merzlikins (lower body), Jake Bean (broken hand), Daniil Tarasov (upper body), Boone Jenner (personal)

Players to Watch

Tampa Bay — Steven Stamkos — this may become the last game Stamkos wears a Bolts’ sweater against the Blue Jackets. Stammer had 7 goals in his last five games. 73 points in 74 games on the season. Most goals all time in Tampa. He has 2 cups back to back. The 34 year old has 1129 points on 1077 career games. He is a true Hall of Famer.

Columbus — David Jiricek — the depleted defense means more time with the big boys for rookie Jiricek. This is where he belongs. The back and forth must stop for his growth and the team’s success.

Predicted Final Score

TBL - 4

CBJ - 1

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