Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (22-25-3) @ Ottawa Senators (20-21-9) Road/Home records - 11-12-1 -------------- 11-8-4 TV - SN, TVA2, FS-O Puck drop - 7:00 p.m. ET Season series - 2-0 Sens Last 10 - Blue Jackets: 4-6-0 ------------ Sens: 4-5-1 Projected starting goalies - Curtis McElhinney vs Robin Lehner
Projected lines for the Senators via DailyFaceoff.com:
Clarke MacArthur - Mika Zibanejad - Bobby Ryan Mike Hoffman - Kyle Turris - Mark Stone Milan Michalek - David Legwand - Curtis Lazar Erik Condra - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Chris Neil
Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson Jared Cowen - Cody Ceci Chris Phillips - Eric Gryba
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Nick Foligno - Ryan Johansen - Cam Atkinson Scott Hartnell - Brandon Dubinsky - Corey Tropp Alex Wennberg - Artem Anisimov - Jack Skille Matt Calvert - Mark Letestu - Jared Boll
Fedor Tyutin - Jack Johnson Kevin Connauton - Dalton Prout Jordan Leopold - David Savard
Injured: Boone Jenner, Jeremy Morin, Brian Gibbons, Nathan Horton, Ryan Murray, James Wisniewski, Sergei Bobrovsky.
What to watch:
1) Neither team is very good at even-strength, but I'd have to imagine Ottawa holds the advantage with last night's injuries to Wisniewski and Murray; arguably the two best defensemen on the team. I say this a lot, but it's true once again: Columbus probably needs to win the special teams battle to have a chance.
2) Ryan Johansen has been scorching hot of late, as he has five points and 23 shots on goal in his last five games played. He's a high-end shooter, so when he's putting pucks on net in high volumes he's going to produce a lot of offense.
3) After recording just 15 points in his first 41 games, Cam Atkinson has stepped it up of late having tallied four points and 16 shots in his last five contests.
4) It seems like the Jackets struggle against offensive defensemen - look no further than against Arizona the other day - and Erik Karlsson scored the game-winner last time these two teams met, so it wouldn't surprise me if he has a big game tonight. For my money he has the most pure offensive talent out of every defenseman in the NHL.
Recent posts