The Ottawa Senators (5th in Atlantic Division) will try to record their season-high fifth straight victory while playing host to the Columbus Blue Jackets (8th in Metropolitan), who are still sitting at the very bottom of the whole league.
Being extremely active ahead of the trade deadline, with Joonas Korpisalo, Gus Nyquist and Vladislav Gavrikov all going out, and goalies Michael Hutchinson and Jon Gillies both joining, did not prevent the Columbus Blue Jackets (20-36-6) from another defeat. The team from Ohio was beaten for the second time in its last three outings (1-1-1) and for the fourth in its past six (2-2-2) after dropping a 4-2 decision against the Seattle Kraken at Nationwide Arena last night. Patrik Laine (18 goals, 41 points this year) opened the scoring with the man-advantage midway through the second period, while Adam Boqvist (3 goals, 18 points) tied it at 2-2 at the start of the final third before the visitors scored a power-play marker of their own, ending the proceedings with an empty-netter 48 seconds from time.
Goalie Elvis Merzlikins made 31 s aves yesterday in his first regulation defeat in the past four starts (1-1-2), taking his current performance status to 7-16-2 for the season with a 4.05 GAA and a .880 save percentage. Back-up Michael Hutchinson (55-55-15 in his NHL career with a 2.79 GAA and a .905 save percentage), who, alongside a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for netminder Jonathan Quick, is most likely to deputize in Columbus’ crease in Ottawa, though. He has posted a 2-2-1 previous tally against the Senators with a 2.73 GAA and a .902 save percentage. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are 3rd in least goals scored per game this year (2.58), 3rd in most goals conceded on average (3.68), 5th from the bottom in power play (17.0%) and 21st in penalty kill (76.3%).
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