PREVIEW: Blue Jackets take quick road trip to battle Senators

BLUE JACKETS (30-27-3) at SENATORS (21-33-5)
Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ont.
TV: Bally Sports Ohio,
Radio:
The Blue Jackets came back to win Friday night's game with a last-minute goal followed by a shootout victory, but it wasn't the easiest of wins.

Columbus saw leading assist man Jakub Voracek leave the game late, then saw Patrik Laine skate off with an injury in overtime. A day later, captain Boone Jenner was placed on injured reserve with a lower-back injury, leaving open the possibility the team's top three scorers would all be out Sunday night vs. Vegas.
Laine did end up being able to play in Nationwide Arena, but Jenner and Voracek were out, leaving Columbus without two key players against the Golden Knights. Yet the Blue Jackets improved to 12-6-2 in a 20-game span, riding Cole Sillinger's hat trick and Oliver Bjorkstrand's four points to a 6-4 win over Vegas.
GAMEDAY GUIDE: Voracek, Danforth likely to return tonight
When asked if he felt like people might have counted out the Blue Jackets going into the game because of the injuries, head coach Brad Larsen couldn't help but laugh.
"You think there were some doubts?" Larsen said. "Our first two periods, we played really well. Gosh, we had so many looks. Once we got the fifth goal, their goalie made some really big saves for them and we hit a couple of posts there. We had a good rhythm going. … The guys just kept pushing, they just kept pushing and playing and playing hard."
It's part of what has made this CBJ team so fun to watch, as the win was the 20th of the season in which Columbus had trailed, most in the NHL this year and tied for a franchise record. No matter what adversity is thrown at the team, the Blue Jackets just seem to shrug it off and show up. It doesn't always lead to success, but it has allowed the team to have a much better season than what the experts expected.
"When things go south like that and you lose your captain and you lose one of the most grizzled players I've ever played with and he's arguably one of your best players, those two guys go down, it's easy to tuck your tail and be like, 'Aww, man, this is gonna be tough,'" Max Domi said. "But when you see certain guys step up in those roles, I think that's a huge confidence boost for our group moving forward."
Columbus seems ticketed to get Voracek as well as Justin Danforth back tonight in Ottawa, which would be a welcome development. Voracek, for his part, said he was impressed and agreed with the thought he was like a proud dad watching the Blue Jackets tie the game vs. Minnesota and then beat Vegas without him.
"100 percent," he said. "It's impressive to see. Same when I was out in Carolina (a 6-0 win Jan. 13). Guys played very well. Even the tying goal against Minnesota, it's a big one to rally after what happened. We were able to keep the emotions in check at that point. It's not easy. I think we have the most comeback wins out of any team if I'm not mistaken. For a young team to have that kind of confidence that you can do that, it's really important."

Know the Foe

Ottawa's future looks bright as the team's four top point scorers are all 23 or younger, but it's still taking time for the Senators' rebuild - which truly kick-started in February 2019 when the team traded Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel to Columbus and Mark Stone to Vegas - to get to its end.
This will be Ottawa's fifth straight season without postseason hockey after finishing just one win short of making the Stanley Cup Final in 2016-17, but D.J. Smith's team does appear to be on the right track given the youth of standouts Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson, plus fellow youngsters Jake Sanderson, Erik Brannstrom, Ridly Greig and Tyler Boucher.
Still, as we said, there's a long way to go, and the Sens haven't really excelled at much this year. Ottawa places 26th in the NHL in scoring with 2.64 goals per game, 23rd in team defense with 3.27 goals allowed per game, 25th in power play at 18.3 percent, and 16th in penalty kill at 79.8 percent.
Tkachuk was an All-Star this year in place of the injured Batherson -- still out with an ankle injury after posting 13-21-34 in 31 games this year -- and the crafty, physical center/winger has 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points on the season. The 22-year-old also tied for fourth in the league with 96 penalty minutes on the season.
Stützle is next as the 20-year-old German who was taken third in the 2020 draft has a 13-22-35 line, while Norris is a 22-year-old center with a team-best 24 goals - 11 of them on the power play - among his 34 points in 43 games. Connor Brown adds 9-25-34 in 45 games, while defenseman Thomas Chabot is always one of the busiest blueliners in the game - he's atop the NHL in average ice time per game, just ahead of Zach Werenski, with 26:42 - and has a 6-27-33 line.
In net, Matt Murray is out with an injury, leaving things to former CBJ netminder Anton Forsberg and young Swede Filip Gustavsson. Forsberg has 29 appearances, going 13-11-2 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. Gustavsson is 3-10-1 in 14 games and has a 3.69 GAA and .890 save percentage.