Senators at Blue Jackets
This past weekend brought out the emotions of the Ottawa Senators and their fans, but yielded little in the way of positive results. The Senators will look to change that Tuesday night as they conclude a two-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Senators claimed one of a possible four points and are coming off Sunday's 2-1 loss at Chicago, while the Blue Jackets are reeling after dropping a 5-2 decision to the host Los Angeles Kings.
The Senators couldn't be blamed for being distracted after their game against Toronto on Wednesday was postponed following the shooting death of a soldier at Parliament Hill. But Ottawa knows it will need to regroup to avoid spoiling a strong start in which it won four of its first five games. The Blue Jackets also opened strong - earning wins in three of their first four - but are coming off a 1-3-0 road trip that ended with a one-sided losses to Anaheim and L.A.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS2, TSN5 (Ottawa), FS-O (Columbus)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (4-2-1): Of all the things that went wrong for Ottawa over the weekend, its performance in the second period of those games may be the biggest cause for concern. Ottawa was outshot 14-6 by New Jersey in the middle frame of Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils and 17-5 by the Blackhawks in the second period of that defeat. They're also scuffling on special teams for the season, entering the new week ranked 20th in both power-play conversion rate (17.2 percent) and penalty killing success (78.6 percent).
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (4-4-0): Columbus forward Nick Foligno suffered a major scare during Sunday's loss to Los Angeles, crumpling to the ice after colliding with linesman Shane Heyer in front of a subdued Staples Center crowd. Foligno was taken from the ice on a stretcher, but an MRI and a doctor's visit confirmed that he didn't suffer any structural damage to his spinal cord. "It was probably the first time I was actually scared on the ice," Foligno told the Columbus Dispatch on Monday, adding that he initially lost feeling on the right side of his body.
OVERTIME
1. Ottawa earned a 3-2 victory in its previous encounter Oct. 18, and have won two straight meetings.
2. Foligno, who spent his first five seasons with the Senators, has a goal and two assists in three career games versus his former team.
3. The Blue Jackets are 18th in power-play percentage (18.8) and 11th in penalty killing (83.3).