Blue Jackets at Ducks
The Columbus Blue Jackets have one final chance to pull out a victory in California when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. Columbus, which began its four-game road trip Saturday with a shutout win in Dallas, was edged in overtime by Los Angeles two days before dropping a 3-1 decision at San Jose on Thursday.
Scott Hartnell helped avoid a shutout by becoming the fourth member of the Blue Jackets with two goals. Anaheim is coming off a dominant 6-1 triumph over Nashville on Wednesday that extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1). Jakob Silfverberg recorded the ninth multi-goal performance of his career while Corey Perry netted a tally to move past Paul Kariya for third place on the franchise scoring list with 670 points. The Ducks were without captain Ryan Getzlaf and backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier as both sat out the contest with upper-body injuries.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (2-3-1): Backup Curtis McElhinney has yet to make his season debut but could get the start Friday after Sergei Bobrovsky was in net for Thursday's loss. Zach Werenski is one of the four players tied for the team lead in goals and also shares the top spot in scoring, joining Nick Foligno and Alexander Wennberg with five points. The 19-year-old rookie defenseman leads Columbus with 22 shots on goal.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (3-3-2): Rickard Rakell could be in the lineup soon after ending his contract battle by signing a six-year deal earlier this month and securing a work visa while recovering from complications from an appendectomy. Defenseman Hampus Lindholm, a fellow Swede, also ended his stalemate with Anaheim by inking a six-year contract Thursday and awaits a work visa. "I was hoping to get this done in the summer, but that's how it is," Lindholm told the team's website. "I can't do too much about that. You just have to try to get to the point where you agree. I'm really happy and they're really happy."
OVERTIME
1. The Ducks assigned LW Emerson Etem and D Shea Theodore to San Diego of the American Hockey League.
2. Werenski and RW Cam Atkinson are tied for the lead on the Blue Jackets with two power-play goals apiece.
3. Cam Fowler appeared in his 422nd game Wednesday to pass Todd Marchant for 10th place on Anaheim's all-time list while fellow D Sami Vatanen notched two assists on the man advantage to overtake Lubomir Visnovsky for seventh in club history with 48 power-play points.