Notables
* The Pens are in the midst of a 4-game road trip that continues in Columbus. Pittsburgh lost, 4-3 in overtime, in Philadelphia in the Stadium Series on Saturday. They will travel for back-to-backs against Buffalo and Montreal this weekend.
* The Pens are outside the playoffs as of now. It is the latest into a season that Pittsburgh finds itself outside of the postseason since 2008-09 - a year that ended with a Stanley Cup win.
* Pittsburgh is in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference. It is tied with Carolina in points, but the Hurricanes get the nod for the last Wild Card position on a tie-breaker. The Pens, still though, are 1 point behind both Montreal (7th) and Columbus (3rd in Metro).
* Defensemen Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and Kris Letang (upper-body) are not on the trip and will not play against the Blue Jackets. Letang is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
* Pittsburgh acquired defenseman Erik Gudbranson from Vancouver and Chris Wideman from Florida at Monday's NHL trade deadline. Zach Trotman was recalled for tonight's game.
* Defenseman Jack Johnson returns to Columbus for the 1st time since signing with Pittsburgh in the offseason. Johnson played 6-plus seasons in Columbus, posting 154 points (36G-118A) in 445 games.
* The Blue Jackets were the busiest team during the lead up to the trade deadline. They acquired Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Keith Kinkaid and Adam McQuaid.
* Columbus has won 7 of its past 10 games with back-to-back shutouts for the 1st time in franchise history.
* Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week for Feb. 18-24 after posting consecutive shutouts (48 for 48 saves). He went 2-1 with a 1.01 GAA and .962 save percentage. Bobrovsky stopped 77 of 80 shots in the week.
Injuries
PIT - Brian Dumoulin (concussion), Kris Letang (upper-body), Olli Maatta (upper-body).
CBJ - Ryan Murray (upper-body).
