Saturday, December 14, 2019 – 1:00 EST
Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, ON
TV: Fox Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Silver Seven
Columbus Blue Jackets (12-14-5, 7th Metro, 13th Eastern)
vs.
Ottawa Senators (13-17-2, 7th Atlantic, 14th Eastern)
On November 25, the Jackets beat the Senators 1-0 in an incredibly boring, slow-paced game — is that what we should expect today? It’s hard to say, based on the last two games.
The Jackets have had an interesting week — a resounding and unprecedented 5-2 win against the Capitols on Monday was promising, but the 0-0 regulation game against the Penguins (and their backup goalie) that resulted in an OT loss in Pittsburgh was disheartening. In fact, John Tortorella said he had never been so embarrassed for the team or for the organization than he was on Thursday night.
Is it going to be the turning point that the Jackets so desperately need in order to end their current scoring drought? Or is it just another game that exemplifies the trend in which the Jackets are stuck this season? Today’s game will be a good indicator.
Player to Watch:
Pierre-Luc Dubois. Despite being the team leader in goals this season, we haven’t seen him produce as much lately. Whether this is due to fatigue or lack of help from his teammates, it will be huge when he steps up and starts scoring regularly.
The Other Bench:
The Senators are having a very similar season to the Blue Jackets right now. Weirdly similar, in fact. They beat the Bruins this week 5-2 in a satisfying win, and then lost to Montreal in OT. It will be interesting to see who shows up to play today in a match that, I believe, will boil down into a game where we see who wants it more.
Season Series:
11/25/2019 OTT 0 @ CBJ 1
12/14/2019 CBJ @ OTT
2/24/2020 OTT @ CBJ
Stats
| Ottawa | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.69 (22) | GPG | 2.45 (29) |
| 3.09 (12) | GAPG | 3.00 (15) |
| 9.8% (31) | PP% | 18.0% (18) |
| 82.0% (14) | PK% | 79.5% (20) |
| 48.54% (23) | 5v5 Corsi % | 50.40% (13) |
| 49.7% (16) | 5v5 Fenwick % | 52.2% (6) |
| 8.3 (13) | 5v5 Shot % | 6.4 (30) |
| .920 (15) | 5v5 Save % | .922 (13) |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau, 16 |
G Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 10 |
| Thomas Chabot, 17 |
A Leader | Seth Jones, 13 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau, 23 |
P Leader | Gustav Nyquist, 19 |
| Mark Borowiecki 31 |
PIM Leader | Pierre-Luc Dubois, 27 |
| 8-5-0 | Home / Road | 4-6-4 |
| 3-6-1 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Sonny Milano | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Oliver Bjorkstrand |
| Nick Foligno |
Boone Jenner | Josh Anderson |
| Gustav Nyquist | Alexandre Texier | Cam Atkinson |
| Alexander Wennberg | Riley Nash |
Eric Robinson |
| Dean Kukan | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | David Savard |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Andrew Peeke |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
Ottawa Senators
| Brady Tkachuk | Jean-Gabriel Pageau | Connor Brown |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | Chris Tierney | Anthony Duclair |
| Tyler Ennis | Artem Anisimov | Colin White |
| Nick Paul | Logan Brown | Jonathan Davidsson |
| Thomas Chabot | Ron Hainsey |
| Mark Borowiecki | Nikita Zaitsev |
| Maxime Lajoie | Cody Goloubef |
| Anders Nilsson |
| Marcus Hogberg |