Blue Jackets at Red Wings
Cam Atkinson attempts to break the franchise record by scoring in his eighth consecutive game when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. Atkinson, who leads the Blue Jackets with 24 points, has recorded nine tallies and four assists during his seven-game goal-scoring streak that equals the team record set by Geoff Sanderson during the 2002-03 season.
“It’s nice, lucky goal, I guess,” Atkinson told reporters after scoring in Saturday’s 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh. “I used their guy as a screen and it just happened to go in. That’s my game. I keep shooting. When you have the hot stick, you have to shoot a little bit more, and good things happen.” The loss to Pittsburgh was the second in regulation during a 10-game stretch (6-2-2) for the Blue Jackets, who have split a pair of meetings with the Red Wings this campaign - including an overtime win at Detroit in the season opener. The Red Wings are 9-3-1 over their last 13 contests but have dropped two in a row after Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to red-hot Buffalo and a 3-1 defeat against Washington one day earlier. “We had plenty of opportunities in each of these games, but we aren’t finishing them,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill told reporters on Saturday. “We’ve got to find a way to put pucks in the net.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (13-8-2): Artemi Panarin’s goal-scoring drought has reached 12 games, although the left wing has recorded eight assists during that stretch and 23 points on the season - second on the team behind Atkinson. Sergei Bobrovsky began to turn around his season when he came on in relief to stop 23 of the 24 shots he faced during the 5-3 loss to Detroit on Oct. 30 and has posted a .946 save percentage over his last nine appearances. Josh Anderson has recorded two goals in his last two games to tie Pierre-Luc Dubois for second on the club with 10 - behind only Atkinson’s 15.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (10-10-3): Dylan Larkin scored one goal on 10 shots in Saturday’s loss and leads the team with 20 points while Andreas Athanasiou has netted three of his team-leading 10 tallies in the last three contests. Gustav Nyquist is second on the team with 16 points but has notched just one in his last six games while Tyler Bertuzzi has collected a goal and three assists in his last four contests. Anthony Mantha recorded a goal and an assist on Saturday for his second multi-point effort of the season, moving within two of 100 points for his career.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit D Trevor Daley is two points shy of 300 for his career but has been kept off the scoresheet in four straight games.
2. Columbus D Ryan Murray leads the team’s blue-liners with 10 assists and a plus-9 rating.
3. The Red Wings snapped their seven-game losing streak against the Blue Jackets with the win on Oct. 30.