OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:
INJURY REPORT:
Defenceman Thomas Chabot has missed the team’s last 10 games. Forwards Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic are on IR. The latter two players are unexpected to oppose the Blue Jackets this evening.
Total man-games lost: 44.
ROAD SCHOLARS:
The Senators have a record of 2-2-0 on the road this season … Dominik Kubalik and Claude Giroux are tied for the team lead in having each scored thrice while Ottawa’s been away from home … Tim Stützle maintains the road assist lead with six to date this season … Stützle also paces the club in road scoring with eight points (two goals, six assists) while the Senators have served as visitors in 2023-24 … Ottawa registered a 15-21-5 record in 2022-23.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES:
The Senators will play back-to-back games on 14 occasions in 2023-24. The third set begins this evening in Columbus before the team returns home to host the Seattle Kraken for the only time this season tomorrow night … The Senators played 12 back-to-back sets last season and earned a record of 7-5-0 in the first half of contests on consecutive nights (2-0-0 this season) while posting an 6-5-1 record (1-1-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.
ON THE POWER PLAY:
The Senators are 14 for 74 (18.9%) on the power play in 2023-24 … Brady Tkachuk maintains the team lead with three power-play goals this season … Jakob Chychrun and Tim Stützle share the club lead with five power-play assists … Chychrun (one goal, five assists), Josh Norris (two goals, four assists) and Tkachuk (three goals, three assists) are tied for the team lead with six points respectively on the power play this season … Ottawa has tallied multiple power-play goals in an individual contest on one occasion this season after having done so on 18 occasions in 2022-23 … The Senators were 72-for-306 (23.5%) on the power play in 2022-23.
ON THE PENALTY KILL:
Ottawa has allowed 15 power-play goals this season while having overcome 44 of 59 shorthanded situations to maintain an efficiency rating of 74.6% … Parker Kelly’s first shorthanded goal of his career, scored in the Oct. 11 season-opener at Carolina, is the team’s lone shorthanded tally of 2023-24 after it notched nine such markers in each of the past two seasons.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Tarasov (knee); Placed on Injured/Non-Roster (Oct. 9); Week-to-Week (24 Games)
Roslovic (fractured ankle); Placed on Injured/Non-Roster (Nov. 13); 4-6 weeks (9 games)
Severson (oblique); Placed on IR Nov. 30 retroactive to Nov. 19; 6 weeks (5 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 59
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 30 Placed Severson on Injured Reserve and recalled Johnson from Cleveland (AHL)1
AGAINST THE SENATORS
2023-24 Series: 0-0-0 (0-0-0 vs. OTT)
2022-23 Series: 1-2-0 (1-0-0 vs. OTT)
All-Time Series: 17-17-2-2 (10-7-1-1 vs. OTT)
Last 10 (Overall | Home): 5-3-2 | 7-2-1
All-Time GF/GA: 107/1110
All-Time SF/SA: 1,176/1,123
All-Time PP: 27-of-139
All-Time PK: 105-of-132
THE LAST GAME: APR. 2, 2023 – CBJ 4 vs. OTT 3 (OT)
CBJ Goal Scorers: PP – Johnson (16), Robinson (11), Jenner (26), OT – Marchenko (21)
OTT Goal Scorers: Gambrell (3), Kastelic (6), DeBrincat (26)
Goalies: CBJ – Gillies (24/27; 60:16); OTT – Talbot (18/22; 60:16)
CBJ PP: 1/2; PK: 2/2 | Shots: CBJ: 22 / OTT: 27
Noteworthy: CBJ trailed 3-2 heading into the 3rd period, but scored 14:11 into the 3rd to tie the game at 3 and again 16 seconds into OT to win… Marchenko registered his 6th multi-point effort of the season (1-1-2), tallying his 1st career GWG and setting a new franchise record for the most goals by a rookie in a single season… Gaudreau notched his team-leading 20th multi-point/14th multi-assist effort of the campaign (0-2-2), becoming the 2nd player to register at least 70 points in his first season with CBJ (19-52-71 in 74 GP)… Sweezey tallied his 1st career NHL point (assist)… Richards recorded his 1st point as a Blue Jacket (assist)… Gillies became the 6th netminder to win his team debut in club history.
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. OTT)
CBJ have recorded points in 10 of last 13 meetings vs. OTT dating back to 3/17/18 (8-3-2)… 6 of the last 9 meetings have been decided by a single goal (CBJ; 4-3-2) with 4 of them decided in OT… CBJ have scored a power play goal in 3 of the past 4 games of the series (3-of-9; 33.3 pct.)… The club has killed off 32-of-36 Ottawa power play chances over the last 16 meetings dating back to 3/4/17 (88.9 pct.)… CBJ and OTT have split the 6 shutouts in the all-time series at 3 each OTT recording the most recent one by Forsberg in a 4-0 win over CBJ in Ottawa on 1/3/23 (22 saves)…. OTT has registered both hat tricks and owns all three penalty shot attempts in the series… Most goals scored vs. OTT: 6 – 2x (MR: 12/31/18)… Most goals allowed vs. OTT: 7 (10/14/15).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. OTT)
Gudbranson skated in his 100th career NHL game on 4/7/13 vs. OTT… Jenner recorded his 100th NHL career assist on 11/25/19 vs. OTT… Laine skated in his 100th NHL career game on 12/3/17 vs. OTT and notched his 8th career hat trick on 2/8/20 vs. OTT… Provorov skated in his 400th career NHL game on 12/18/21 vs. OTT… Texier scored his 1st career NHL goal on 4/6/19 at OTT.
KICKING OFF DECEMBER AT HOME
The Blue Jackets had their two-game home win streak snapped and fell to 3-2-0 in their last five games following Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. The club concludes a three-game homestand on Friday vs. Ottawa (5-2 W, Mon. vs. BOS and 4-2 L, Wed. vs. MTL). Sunday’s game at Carolina, meanwhile, kicked off a stretch of nine games – including six at home – in 15 days through Dec. 10.
JACKETS ON THE KILL
The club, which did not allow a power play opportunity for the first time this season on Wednesday, has killed off all 10 opponent power play chances over the last five contests. Columbus has allowed a power play goal in just two of the past 17 games (Nov. 16. vs. ARI) and (Nov. 19. vs. PHI), killing off 38-of-40 opponent power play chances (95.0 pct.). CBJ had killed off all 22 opponent power play opportunities over nine contests from Oct. 28-Nov.14 with the nine games without allowing a power play goal tied for the second-longest stretch in franchise history (Feb. 21-Mar. 9, 2013) and trailing only the 11 games from Dec. 31, 2018-Jan. 29, 2019. The club ranks second in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season (LA; 89.4 pct.) at 89.2 pct. (58-of-65) and lead the League in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20, killing off 50-of-54 opponent power play chances over the last 20 games (92.6 pct.).
BLOCK IT LIKE IT’S HOT
CBJ have been credited with 248 blocked shots over the past 13 games dating back to Nov. 6. The club ranks second in the NHL in blocked shots (457) and third in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.83). Defenseman Erik Gudbranson has recorded 1-1-2 in the past five games and 1-5-6 in his past 11 contests. The blueliner, who blocked six shots on Sunday, leads the team and ranks fifth among all NHL skaters in blocked shots in 2023-24 with 61.
