PANTHERS (20-13-5) at BLUE JACKETS (17-14-8) 7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-O, FS-F, NHL.TV
Bobrovsky signed a seven-year contract with the Panthers on July 1 after the goalie played the previous seven seasons with the Blue Jackets. He has the most wins (213) and shutouts (33) in Columbus history and won the Vezina Trophy as the League's best goalie in 2013 and 2017. Bobrovsky made 33 saves in a 4-1 win against Columbus at BB&T Center on Dec. 7. Columbus seeks to extend its point streak to 11 games. The Blue Jackets, who are 6-0-4 in their past 10, will be without goalie Joonas Korpisalo for 4-6 weeks after he sustained a knee injury in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. Rookie Elvis Merzlikins (0-4-4, 3.41 goals-against average, .889 save percentage) will start and try for his first NHL win. The Panthers have won two straight and five of six (5-1-0) after a three-game losing streak.
Players to watch
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in a six-game point streak. Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past six games.
They said it
"It's going to be special for him. He's been here a long time. It's going to be a great night for him, a great night for us." -- Evgenii Dadonov on Sergei Bobrovsky's return to Columbus "If we play well, we can help him out. Win or lose, it's never the goalie's fault," -- Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois on goalie Elvis Merzlikins
Other than Merzlikins, there are no lineup changes for Columbus.
Stat pack
Barkov has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games. … Acciari has nine points (eight goals, one assist) in his past six games. … The Blue Jackets have points in 12 straight home games (11-0-1) vs. the Panthers, including five straight wins. … Gerbe is expected to play his 400th NHL game.
