SETTING THE STAGE: Another weekend means another quick turnaround for the Blue Jackets.
They arrived in the Canadian capital late last night after a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Nationwide Arena, and just like their previous opponent, this is Columbus' second meeting of the week with the Ottawa Senators. This weekend back-to-back is the third and final for the Blue Jackets in the month of January, and Sunday's game kicks off a three-game road swing leading up to the NHL All-Star break.
It's also a back-to-back for the Senators, who picked up a shootout win over the Maple Leafs last night on Hockey Night in Canada. Because of that, it's unclear whether the Blue Jackets will once again face Mike Condon, who stymied them in a 42-save shutout performance at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
John Tortorella said the Blue Jackets "weren't awful" in that game vs. Ottawa, but struggled to create dangerous scoring chances until the third period, when they had a lengthy 5-on-3 that came up empty, hit a goal post and just missed a couple of opportunities around the front of the net. They were better at the start of last night's game, but slowed in the second period before rebounding with the game-winning goal from Scott Hartnell in the third period.
NOTEWORTHY NEWS: Markus Hannikainen, recalled from Cleveland (AHL) on Friday, got into the lineup on Saturday and scored his first NHL goal vs. the Hurricanes. He played in place of Matt Calvert, who was a healthy scratch. No word yet if there will be further lineup changes for the Blue Jackets, who have been hit with a couple of injuries to their defense. Tortorella had no update on David Savard or Markus Nutivaara on Saturday.
PROJECTED CBJ LINEUP:
Saad - Wennberg - Foligno
Jenner - Dubinsky - Atkinson
Hannikainen - Karlsson - Anderson
Hartnell - Sedlak - Gagner
Werenski - Jones
Murray - Johnson
Harrington - Prout
\\Goaltender TBA after Tortorella's media availability
