Senators at Blue Jackets
The Ottawa Senators have become one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this month, and can extend their season-high winning streak to four games Monday night against the host Columbus Blue Jackets. The Senators, who finished with the least points in the league last season during a rebuild, have won seven of their last nine contests after knocking off the New York Rangers 4-1 on Friday.
“We’ve found an identity that works for us, and we’ve got some success and we’ve got some confidence, and I think that’s just what it takes,” Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson told reporters. “. ... We’re starting to find consistency, and that’s what we’ve talked about since day one is trying to find the growth, and we’re growing. That’s good to see.” The Senators will try to end a four-game losing streak in which they scored six goals against the Blue Jackets, who saw their run of three straight wins overall end Saturday after a disastrous turnover late in the contest led to the winning goal in a 4-3 setback at Winnipeg. Columbus coach John Tortorella said after the game, “we were the better team that found a way to lose,” as the Blue Jackets outshot the Jets 29-19 in the first two periods, but could not take full advantage of it with Winnipeg down to four defensemen because of injury. “It’d be easy, but lazy to say that we lost because of that mistake at the end because you have 60 minutes to win a game,” Columbus center Pierre-Luc Dubois said of a turnover by goalie Elvis Merzlikins that led to the winning tally. “It never comes down to just one minute or one mistake.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN5 (Ottawa), FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (11-11-1): Versatile forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau continues to put up numbers with two goals and two assists in the last three games to push his team-leading total to 19 points with a plus-17 rating. Anthony Duclair has also been productive with four goals and two assists in his past four games while fellow forward Brady Tkachuk registered two of his eight goals in the last three contests. Defenseman Thomas Chabot is starting to warm up with four of his 14 points in a four-game span and 21-year-old center Logan Brown notched his first career goal Friday.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (9-9-4): Columbus has scored 16 times in the past four contests and several players have put together scoring streaks, led by defenseman Zach Werenski’s six-game run in which he has three goals and five assists. Dubois leads the team with 10 goals and 17 points after scoring four times and setting up two others during his four-game point streak while forward Oliver Bjorkstrand has scored once and added five assists in the past three contests. Joonas Korpisalo (9-7-1, 3.04 goals-against average, .897 save percentage) is expected back in net to try and extend his winning streak to four games.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus RW Cam Atkinson has yet to get on track scoring goals, but posted seven points in the past seven games.
2. Ottawa D Nikita Zaitsev, who missed Friday’s game for personal reasons, could return for Monday’s contest.
3. The Blue Jackets are 7-for-15 on the power play in the past four contests while the Senators are 17-for-18 on the penalty kill over a six-game span.