Blue Jackets at Oilers
Scott Hartnell looks to extend his goal-scoring surge to five contests when the Columbus Blue Jackets open a three-game road trip against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. After tallying twice in a 4-3 victory over Carolina on March 10, Hartnell continued his fortunate run and reached the 20-goal plateau for the eighth time in his career in Columbus' 5-4 shootout win over Edmonton on Friday. The veteran Hartnell and rookie linemates Marko Dano and Alexander Wennberg combined for two goals and three assists in that contest, making coach Todd Richards' decision to group the three on one line look like a stroke of genius - even if he admits that's not the case.
"Sometimes when you make a decision, things aren't going well and you try to shake things up," Richards said. "It doesn't necessarily mean that you're thinking, 'These three guys would work well.' Sometimes it's just throwing guys together and seeing how it goes." Edmonton enjoyed a rare bright spot in its otherwise dreary season on Monday, scoring four goals in the first period en route to snapping a seven-game skid (0-5-2) with a 4-1 triumph over Toronto.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Ohio (Columbus), RSNO (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (30-35-4): After limping through a 2-for-45 stretch on the power play, Columbus has scored six times with the man advantage in the last four games and is 8-for-25 in its last eight. Nick Foligno had an assist on Cam Atkinson's power-play goal versus Edmonton before recording his team-best 10th tally with the man advantage in Sunday's 3-2 loss to Carolina. "It's easier to get into a rhythm when you're on the power play rather than the penalty kill," Richards said.
ABOUT THE OILERS (19-39-12): Edmonton knows a thing or two about scoring on the power play, having done so a blistering 10 times in its last 23 opportunities over the last five games. Jordan Eberle converted with the man advantage and added two assists against the Maple Leafs after scoring and setting up a goal versus Columbus. Eberle has recorded four tallies and seven assists on his season-high five-game point streak.
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has recorded three straight two-assist performances overall and is riding a nine-game point streak in the series versus Columbus (one goal, 13 assists).
2. The Blue Jackets recalled Ryan Craig from Springfield of the American Hockey League with fellow Cs Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov questionable to play on Wednesday due to general soreness.
3. Oilers RW Nail Yakupov scored in the first meeting and collected two goals and two assists on his four-game point streak.