PREVIEW: Blue Jackets cross the border to take on Senators

The Blue Jackets didn’t get the win Saturday night in the first game back from the NHL’s midseason break, but they very nearly posted a memorable comeback in Nationwide Arena.

Down 3-0 with 10 minutes to play, Columbus scored twice to put a scare into Tampa Bay before the Lightning scored an empty-net goal to finish off a 4-2 victory in Nationwide Arena. Still, Columbus was pleased with a lot of parts of its game, including the number of chances the team created, but the Blue Jackets just couldn’t get enough pucks past Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

“Their goalie played really good tonight,” Zach Werenski said. “He’s obviously one of the best goalies in the league, but I thought for a lot of it, I don’t want to say he kept them in it because that’s a good hockey team and their had their chances, but he made some big saves. It could have been tied earlier.

“I think 5-on-5 we played really good tonight. I think our power play did some good things. We have to shape up the penalty kill a little bit. They scored two on us, and that’s the difference. But I thought we played a pretty good game tonight. There’s definitely some things we can work on, but coming out of the break, I thought we worked hard.”

A look at the numbers showed the Jackets had advantages in high-danger chances and expected goals at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick, a sign that the team indeed did have some good looks. More than that, head coach Pascal Vincent was pleased by the way the Jackets played with pace and intensity for 60 minutes.

“We had a chance to come back in this game,” Vincent said postgame. “If you were at the game tonight, that’s the style of hockey we’re going to play. That’s what we wanted to create, and that’s what we’re creating.”

As the Blue Jackets look to keep building and finish strong, turning in such efforts against some of the best teams in the league will be the expectation. Doing it on a nightly basis is also a step the Jackets are chasing, as consistency is key in the NHL.

“We just have to keep doing this night in and night out,” Johnny Gaudreau said. “I thought we did a great job toward the end of that road trip there in St. Louis, ended on the right note. Came into tonight, I thought we played well. Obviously the result wasn’t there, but just keep building and getting better every day and try to come together as a team.”

Know The Foe: Ottawa Senators

Head coach: Jacques Martin (First season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.38 (8th) | Scoring defense: 3.60 (30th) | PP: 15.4 percent (24th) | PK: 74.3 percent (28th)

The narrative: The Senators have been one of the most frustrating teams in the league this season, as the hope was a burgeoning young core would help the squad return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Instead, the team was never able to get going, and an 11-15-0 start led to the dismissal of head coach D.J. Smith and the return of Martin, who spent nine seasons coaching the team from 1996 to 2004. Still, the team’s points percentage of .458 is second from last in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only Columbus.

Team leaders: The Sens are a dangerous team offensively, and you could do worse than building around a young core that features Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk. One of the top young players in the game, Stutzle is in the midst of an All-Star season that features a team-best 11-36-47 line, while Tkachuk leads Ottawa with 22 goals among his 41 points. Veteran Claude Giroux still has plenty in him, as he’s second on the team with 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists), while Drake Batherson adds 17-22-39. Jacob Chychrun is the top-scoring defenseman with 29 points, including eight goals.

The top netminder is an old friend in Joonas Korpisalo, who signed long-term in Ottawa this offseason, but he hasn’t really been able to get going this season. Korpisalo is 13-16-2 on the year with a 3.37 GAA and .890 save percentage in 34 games.

What's new: The Sens are 10-10-2 since Martin took over, and it appears unlikely postseason hockey is coming to the capital city. There has been a spark of late, though, as Ottawa has won three in a row and is 5-1-1 in its last seven games. Improved defense has been a key, with the Sens allowing three goals or less in six of the seven contests. There is one major injury, as Jake Sanderson – the son of former CBJ forward Geoff Sanderson – missed Saturday’s game vs. Toronto.

Trending: The Blue Jackets were an even 17-17-2-2 coming into the season against Ottawa before taking a 4-1 win over the Sens on Dec. 1 in Nationwide Arena. Columbus went 8-1-1 vs. the Sens from 2018=20 but is 3-3-1 since.

Former CBJ: It’s a former CBJ duo in net, as Korpisalo’s top backup is Anton Forsberg, who has posted a 7-8-0 record, 3.35 GAA and .889 save percentage in 16 appearances.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Kent Johnson – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier – Cole Sillinger – Emil Bemstrom
Justin Danforth – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Daniil Tarasov
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratches: Adam Fantilli (calf laceration, out eight weeks as of Jan. 31), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body injury, day to day), Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve: None

Roster Report: Chinakhov did not travel after suffering an injury Saturday but could rejoin the team for its upcoming California trip. Bemstrom is set to enter the lineup in his place against the Sens, while Tarasov gets the call in net. 

3 Stats to Know

• Boone Jenner’s two-goal showing against Tampa Bay on Saturday gives him three multigoal games on the season and ties him with Kirill Marchenko for the team goal-scoring lead.
• Johnny Gaudreau has collected assists in four straight games (0-5-5) and seven of his past nine games (0-9-9) after posting a pair of helpers against the Lightning. He has recorded 3-16-19 in the last 21 games.
• Milestone watch: Adam Boqvist is five games from 200 for his NHL career (22-60-82, 195 GP). ... Zach Werenski is six assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-194-274, 455 GP).

Who’s Hot

Dmitri Voronkov has five goals in the last eight games and is among NHL rookie leaders in goals (12, tied for third) and points (25, tied for seventh). ... With an assist Saturday, Kirill Marchenko has set a new career high in points (15-11-26). ... The team’s rookie stat line of 25-36-61 is first in the NHL in goals and second in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 13, 2003: Jaroslav Spacek becomes the first CBJ player in team history with two overtime goals, scoring on the power play 28 seconds into the extra frame to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 win at Montreal.

Feb. 13, 2013: The Blue Jackets introduce Jarmo Kekalainen as the third general manager in franchise history. The Tampere, Finland, native becomes the first European-born general manager in NHL history.

Feb. 13, 2015: Artem Anisimov’s overtime winner gives the Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia at Nationwide Arena.