Blue Jackets at Senators
The Ottawa Senators were thrilled to see Alex Burrows, their top acquisition at the trade deadline, pay dividends in his first game with the club and hope for more of the same when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit Canada's capital city Saturday. Ottawa sits second in the Atlantic Division, six points behind Montreal with three games in hand on the Canadiens while two points ahead of Boston, but isn't too far above a huge logjam for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"I like the way we played," Burrows told reporters after recording his second two-goal game of the season in Thursday's 2-1 victory over Colorado. "There's a lot of good players here, and if we play the right way, we'll have some success." Columbus, which is seven points behind first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division, is engaged in a three-way fight with Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers for second place and home ice in the first round of the playoffs. The Blue Jackets - 7-3-1 in their last 11 games - defeated Minnesota on Thursday after losing in overtime at Montreal on Tuesday, marking the first time in franchise history they've played back-to-back 1-0 games. The teams split the first two of three meetings this season as each team won on the road with Columbus prevailing 7-6 on Jan. 22 in the last encounter behind a pair of goals from Cam Atkinson, including one in overtime - three days after Ottawa recorded a 2-0 victory.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), CITY (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (40-16-6): Atkinson paces the team with 29 goals but scored in one of the last eight games, recording two in Sunday's 5-2 victory over the Rangers in New York. Third-year center Alexander Wennberg (club-high 40 assists), who recorded two goals and four assists in the three games prior to the 1-0 contests, needs eight points to match the 60 he compiled in 137 games over his first two seasons. Sergei Bobrovsky (33-13-4, 2.13 goals-against average, .928 save percentage) alternated wins and losses over his last nine starts (5-3-1), and stopped 95-of-98 shots in his last three games.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (34-22-6): Erik Karlsson (team-high 55 points), whose 45 assists are tied for second in the NHL with Washington's Nicklas Backstrom, sets a club record by playing in his 312th consecutive game Saturday. Mark Stone (47 points) and Kyle Turris (44) share the club lead with 22 goals apiece while Mike Hoffman (43 points) has four assists in his last three games. Craig Anderson (17-8-1, 2.26, .930) is 5-2-0 with a .948 save percentage and 12 goals allowed in seven games since returning from a two-month absence to be with his wife, who is battling cancer, and is 11-5-0 in his career versus Columbus.
OVERTIME
1. The Blue Jackets killed 17-of-18 penalties over their last eight games, moving them into 10th in the NHL at 82.6 percent through Thursday's games, and were one of four teams in the league in the top 10 in both special teams (St. Louis, Toronto and Washington).
2. Ottawa is 12-5-2 versus the Metropolitan this season - the best record against the league's strongest division.
3. Columbus C Brandon Dubinsky (nine goals, 32 points) is one point shy of 400 for his career.