Blue Jackets at Canadiens
THE STORY: Just when something good happens to the Columbus Blue
Jackets, they find a way to reach another low. The Blue Jackets had
waited all season for left wing Kristian Huselius to recover from a torn
pectoral muscle and join the team. Huselius was finally activated from
injured reserve Friday, just in time to share the ice as Columbus
allowed five third-period goals in a 6-3 loss at Edmonton. The former
star returns to a team with the lowest point total in the NHL and losses
in three of its last four games. The Blue Jackets get another tough
test when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The Canadiens
snapped a four-game losing streak by squeezing out a 2-1 victory at Los
Angeles on Saturday. That marked the most encouraging effort from the
blue line over the past few weeks and was highlighted by a rare
power-play goal.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Ohio (Columbus), RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (7-16-3):
Huselius has 142 points in 188 career games for Columbus but was
limited to 39 games in 2010-11 and missed the first 25 this season.
Huselius will likely take some time to work his way back into playing
shape but was used on the No. 1 line Friday. Derek Dorsett had the first
two-goal game of his career in Edmonton but goaltender Curtis Sanford
had his toughest night since taking over the top spot, yielding five
goals.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-11-5): Montreal snapped a
six-game streak without a power-play tally Saturday when Tomas Plekanec
pushed one across in the first period. Most encouraging was the play on
the blue line, which killed off five penalties and helped the Canadiens
to not get outshot for the first time in four games. Montreal wound up
even (27-27) in shots on goal after surrendering an average of 10.8 more
during their four-game slide.
OVERTIME:
1. Blue Jackets center Jeff Carter sat out Friday with a left ankle sprain. He is day-to-day.
2. Huselius has been held to six points - one goal - in 18 career games against the Canadiens.
3. Columbus has taken three of the last four meetings.