PREVIEW: Blue Jackets visit Ottawa looking for a win

BLUE JACKETS (33-23-3) at SENATORS (22-33-5)Friday, 7 p.m., Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata (FOX Sports Ohio, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)
Move over, rover.
A year ago, the roving duo of Seth Jones and Zach Werenski gave the Blue Jackets a pair of high-scoring, highwire-act defensemen who could create offense at the drop of a hat -- and they were played together for most of the season, too.
They ended up combining for 32 goals and 94 points while helping the Blue Jackets return to the playoffs for the second consecutive season for the first time in franchise history.

This year, the two haven't played together nearly as often as the Jackets try to make it three postseason bids in a row. A year ago, according to Natural Stat Trick, the two played 1,731 minutes together at 5-on-5, while each played around 700 minutes of time at 5-on-5 without the other. This year, the two have played together for just 489 minutes, while each has spent more time with other skaters.
NEWS: Jackets acquire Ottawa center Matt Duchene on Friday
So what has happened? Part of it is the early-season defensive slump by Werenski, as the two were a pairing for Jones' first seven games of the season -- he missed the first seven games with an injury -- before being split apart in early November.
Head coach John Tortorella has gone back to the two at times, including after the Christmas break, but he's also defaulted at times to returning Jones to a pairing with Ryan Murray.
Why? A big part of it has been Murray's emergence, as the former No. 2 overall pick has a career-high in points and has played like a top pairing defenseman.
"I really like Zach and Seth together," Tortorella said when the team was in Las Vegas earlier this month. "I think it dictates the tempo of the game for us. It's hard for me to totally get away from that.
"(But) I think Murr has had a hell of a year. It kind of changes my thinking a little bit because I think Murr has played with pace, has moved the puck very well north. We're still trying to figure all that out. I think it's been very healthy for our team where we have used multiple pairs."
But after Murray left the Blue Jackets' game vs. Tampa on Monday early on with an upper-body injury, Tortorella has faced a decision -- is it time to put Werenski and Jones back together?
So far, he's largely chosen to go with the two still separate, though at 5-on-5, they have played more than 11 minutes together at 5-on-5 in the past two games. With the Jackets down to five defensemen, things were in much more of a rotation against the Lightning, while Tortorella chose to pair Jones with Markus Nutivaara on Tuesday night at Montreal.
"I think with Murr being out, I think we need to try to get Nuti going, playing at a different level," Tortorella said. "We tried him the other night; didn't mind it, quite honestly. I'm not sure what we go with (vs. Ottawa), but I'm not sure what's going to go on with Murr.
"You may see (Jones and Werenski) together at certain times, but I also have to worry about, with Murr being out, balancing our D, too. We'll make those calls as we go game to game."
With Murray out and Nutivaara -- who Tortorella is trying to bring back to being the breakout pass-slinging offensive threat the team has watched the past few seasons -- still finding his game, the coach has opted to put the Finnish defenseman with Jones in an effort to promote that growth. That has left Werenski with David Savard and Scott Harrington paired with Dean Kukan, who entered the lineup.
Where things go, as Tortorella said, remains to be seen. But the biggest key right now might be getting Nutivaara, who doesn't have a point in his last 13 games, back on track.
"He's a big part of our team," Jones said. "A puck-moving defenseman, he has great feet, great vision, can put the puck in the net offensively, too, and make plays. He's definitely a big part of what we're doing. I'm looking forward to continue playing with him."
Know The Foe
Ottawa enters the game last in the NHL with just 49 points, and the Senators lost 4-0 on Thursday night at New Jersey while playing without 41 percent of their goal scoring. Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel didn't play as each is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and Duchene was traded to the Blue Jackets on Friday.
Stone leads the team with a 28-34-62 line followed by Duchene (27-31-58) with Dzingel fourth with a 22-22-44 line. All-Star defenseman Thomas Chabot played vs. the Devils and checks in third on the team with 46 points on 13 goals and 33 assists. Chris Tierney has added 40 points (6-34).
Scoring hasn't been an issue, in fact, for the Sens, who are still 11th in the league with 3.10 goals per game. Defensively, though, the team has been a dumpster fire, with the 3.72 goals per game allowed by the Sens the highest mark in the NHL since the 22-win Pittsburgh Penguins ceded 3.78 goals per game in 2005-06.
Not surprisingly, the goaltending has been an issue, so much so the team acquired Anders Nilsson via trade with Vancouver in January. Nilsson had been strong for the Devils but was in net for Thursday night's loss; still, he's at 7-7-0 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .917 save percentage with the Sens. Craig Anderson is the other active goalie and is 14-18-3 this season with a 3.59 GAA and .903 save percentage. Mike McKenna, Mike Condon and Marcus Hogberg have started a combined 12 games with just one win.
3 Keys
Welcome: With Duchene and Panarin in the lineup, that's two attacking forces added since the loss at Montreal. How Duchene will fit into the lineup remains to be seen but he should add attacking thrust.
Don't blink: Tortorella dismissed the thought of a trap game Thursday, and with Columbus now on the wrong side of the playoff bar after Carolina's win Thursday night, it's hard to imagine the team assuming it can throw the pucks out there against the NHL's worst team. But still, the Jackets must take care of business.
Score early: The Blue Jackets faced a similarly porous Chicago defense last Saturday and put five goals on the board. In a game in which the Sens seemingly have little to play for as they await further trades, getting goals on the board early and often could be demoralizing.
Of Note
Columbus has won two straight and is 4-2-0 in the last six games vs. Ottawa, including a 6-3 New Year's Eve victory against the Sens in Nationwide Arena. … The teams will also play April 6 at Ottawa in the Jackets' final regular-season game of the year. … Columbus has won 18 of 29 road games thus far, a franchise record to this point in the season. … Columbus has gone five straight games without a power-play goal (0-for-11). … The Blue Jackets have lost three games in a row just once this season.
Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson
Eric Robinson - Matt Duchene - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Riley Nash - Alex Wennberg - Brandon Dubinsky
Seth Jones - Zach Werenski
Markus Nutivaara - David Savard
Scott Harrington - Dean Kukan
Sergei Bobrovsky (confirmed starter)
Joonas Korpisalo
Subject to change
Scratched: Anthony Duclair, Adam Clendening, Lukas Sedlak
Roster Notes:Markus Hannikainen and Panarin missed Tuesday's game at Montreal because of illness but practiced Thursday. Head caoch John Tortorella said Friday that Duclair would be in the lineup and Sedlak and Hannikainen would not be, but that was before the trade for Duchene. Defenseman Ryan Murray also was placed on injured reserve Friday.
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