Game #63 Preview/Gamethread: Blue Jackets travel north to face the Senators
Here’s what you need to know
Saturday, March 4, 2023 - 7:00 P.M. EST
Canadian Tire Centre - Ottawa, Ontario
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Silver Seven
Columbus Blue Jackets (20-36-6, 46 points, 8th Metro, 16th East)
at
Ottawa Senators (31-26-4, 66 points, 5th Atlantic, 10th East)
Another second leg of a back-to-back, on the road, against a rested team. Those are always fun!
Player to Watch
Jakob Chychrun
One of the bigger surprises of a wild trade deadline week is Ottawa winning the Chychrun sweepstakes...and only giving up one first round pick and two second round picks. It’s probably too late to save this season, but with two more years on his contract, in the prime of his career, Chychrun fits nicely with a pretty solid, young blue line corps which also features Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub.
Jackets Notes
Sean Kuraly has a strained oblique and is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season ... Cole Sillinger was assigned to AHL Cleveland yesterday, but recalled before the game. This paper move allows him to be eligible for the Calder Cup playoffs, should the Monsters qualify ... Michael Hutchinson, acquired from Vegas in the second Jonathan Quick trade, is the new backup goalie. Will he start tonight, or will Larsen ride Elvis Merzlikins hard down the stretch, like he has in the previous two seasons?
The Other Bench
The Senators won on Thursday in Madison Square Garden to spoil Patrick Kane’s Rangers debut ... Former Blue Jacket first round pick Derick Brassard played his 1000th game on Thursday, and scored two goals. Congrats to him for both accomplishments! ... The Senators sit just four points behind the Islanders for the last wild card spot, and have three games in hand. The Sens have won four straight and are 7-2-1 in their last 10.
Season Series
01/03/2023 CBJ 0 @ OTT 4
03/04/2023 CBJ @ OTT
04/02/2023 OTT @ CBJ
Stats
| Ottawa | Columbus | |
|---|---|---|
| 3.15 (15) | GPG | 2.58 (30) |
| 3.13 (16) | GAPG | 3.68 (30) |
| 25.1% (3) | PP% | 17.0% (28) |
| 83.0% (5) | PK% | 76.3% (21) |
| 51.3% (12) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 45.6% (28) |
| 51.4% (9) | 5v5 Unblocked shot attempt % | 45.5% (29) |
| 7.4 (31) | 5v5 Shooting % | 7.7 (27) |
| .910 (22) | 5v5 Save % | .911 (21) |
| Tim Stutzle, 29 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 19 |
| Brady Tkachuk, 39 | A Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 40 |
| Brady Tkachuk 65 | P Leader | Johnny Gaudreau, 55 |
| Austin Watson, 87 | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier, 79 |
| 18-12-2 | Home / Road | 7-17-4 |
| 7-2-1 | Last 10 | 5-3-2 |
Projected Lineups
| Johnny Gaudreau | Boone Jenner | Kirill Marchenko |
| Patrik Laine | Jack Roslovic | Kent Johnson |
| Eric Robinson | Cole Sillinger | Emil Bemstrom |
| Liam Foudy | Lane Pederson | Mathieu Olivier |
| Tim Berni | Erik Gudbranson |
| Nick Blankenburg | Andrew Peeke |
| Gavin Bayreuther | Adam Boqvist |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Michael Hutchinson |
| Brady Tkachuk | Tim Stutzle | Claude Giroux |
| Alex DeBrincat | Shane Pinto | Drake Batherson |
| Mathieu Joseph | Dylan Gambrell | Julien Gauthier |
| Derick Brassard | Mark Kastelic | Austin Watson |
| Thomas Chabot | Artem Zub |
| Jake Sanderson | Travis Hamonic |
| Jakob Chychrun | Nick Holden |
| Cam Talbot |
| Mads Sogaard |