The Senators are back on the road and looking to make it back-to-back wins after taking down Pittsburgh in overtime on Tuesday to snap at seven-game losing streak. Tonight is the third and final meeting between the Senators and Blue Jackets with the series split down the middle seeing each team win on home ice, the winner tonight takes the tie breaker.
The Senators showed real resiliency in their last outing after initially having the game opening goal called back, they were able to strike first when Jake Sanderson found the back of the net. After the Penguins were able to draw even with just 23 seconds to play, they once again stood tall when Drake Batherson connected on the overtime winner.
Over his last two outings Joonas Korpisalo has strung together some of his best hockey of the season boasting a 0.946% save percentage while allowing only three goals in those two games. His strong play has been a spark for the Senators, Zack Ostapchuk joining the NHL ranks and seemingly fitting right in from the get go was their spark last game, and perhaps Parker Kelly returning from his two-game suspension tonight will be the latest spark for the Sens.
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The Blue Jackets are coming in off of back-to-back losses and looking to get back in the win column. While their record may lead fans to think they are a relatively easy draw, the Blue Jackets have pulled off upsets over the Oilers and Golden Knights in the last two weeks alone. Needless to say this team can elevate their game to match any competition.
While the Blue Jackets are still without young star Adam Fantilli who has been held out since suffering a calf laceration back on Jan. 28, and still ranks in the top-five in scoring for the Blue Jackets, don't expect that to be an excuse for this group. Led by Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau with 19 goals and 45 points respectively, this Blue Jackets team still has star power to lean on. Add in Kirill Marchenko, Dmitri Voronkov, and Yegor Chinakhov with 17, 17, and 16 goals respectively the goals can come in bunches in Columbus.
