Zak MacMillan

"CBJ"

Harrisburg, PA • United States • 23 Years Old • Male

CBJ Update- Wild Shutout and PreGame in Ottawa

CBJ Post-Game No. 62—Wild Shutout

The Columbus Blue Jackets got the one important goal to shutout the Minnesota Wild by the final score of 1-0 in regulation.

The lone goal came from Brandon Saad, who scored his 19th goal of the season. Nick Foligno had the lone assist.

This game was the debuts for Lauri Korpikoski and Kyle Quiency in Blue Jackets uniforms. Korpikoski registered one shot on goal with 10:29 in ice time. Quiency registered one shot on goal and two hits in 14:35 ice time, the least amount of ice time for defenseman. 1:45 of that time was shorthanded, showing some trust with him on the penalty kill.

Ryan Murray was my plater to watch for the Jackets, playing 15:32 in ice time, and 2:56 was shorthanded. Murray was credited with a hit, a blocked shot, and a giveaway.

Mikael Granlund was my player to watch for the Minnesota Wild, playing 21:11 in ice time, with 4:09 of it on the power play and 3:55 of it shorthanded. Granlund had three shots on goal and two hits.

Devan Dubynk stopped 39 of 40 shots for a 0.975 save percentage (97.5%).

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 38 shots faced (100%).

CBJ Three Stars of the Night
1. Sergei Bobrovsky—shutout win; 38 saves on 38 shots faced (1.000 SV%)
2. Brandon Saad—GWG (19)
3. Nick Foligno—assist (23)

CBJ Pre-Game No. 63—Columbus Blue Jackets @ Ottawa Senators

Columbus: 40-16-6 (86 points) @ Ottawa: 34-22-6 (74 points)

The Columbus Blue Jackets return to the ice tonight in Canada’s capital to take on the Ottawa Senators. Both teams are coming off days of rest and victories off the NHL Trade Deadline. At the deadline, the Senators dealt top prospect LW Jonathan Dalhen to the Vancouver Canucks for RW Alex Burrows; a 2017 3rd round draft pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for RW Viktor Stalberg. They also delat RW Curtis Lazar and D Mike Kostka to the Calgary Flames for D Jyri Jokkipaka and a 2017 2nd round draft pick.

In terms of collective stats, the Senators are 20th in goals per game with 2.56, and are 12th in goals against with 2.61. The Sens’ power play is 24th with a 16.9%; their penalty kill is 11th with an 82.3%. The Senators leading goal scorer is Mark Stone with 22. Erik Karlsson leads the team in assists with 45. Marc Methot leads the team in plus/minus with a +14. Mike Hoffman leads the team in power play in goals with 11. Mike Condon leads the Senators in wins with 17. Craig Anderson leads the team in save percentage with a 0.930.

The Senators are also dealing with the injury bug. Clarke MacArthur has missed the entire season with a concussion. Chris Neil and Bobby Ryan are both out with finger injuries. Andrew Hammond is out with a hip injury.

The Jackets’ team stats are much glossier to look at. The Jackets are 5th in goals per game with 3.19; and 3rd in goals against per game with a 2.34. The Jackets’ powerplay has taken quite a dip to 8th with a 21.5%; their penalty kill is 10th with an 82.6%. The Jackets’ leading goal scorer and power play goal scorer is Cam Atkinson. 10 of his 29 goals came on the power play. Alex Wennberg leads the team in assists with 40. David Savard leads the team in plus/minus with a +23. Sergei Bobrovsky leads the team in wins and save percentage with 33 wins and a 0.928 save percentage.

The injury bug has hit Columbus as of late. Lukas Sedlak, Matt Calvert, and Markus Nutivarra have all recently gone down with injuries, whereas David Clarkson hasn’t played a single game.

Projected Lineups

Ottawa Senators

Alex Burrows – Derick Brassard – Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman – Kyle Turris – Zack Smith
Ryan Dzingel – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Tom Pyatt
Viktor Stalberg – Chris Kelly – Tommy Wingels

Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf – Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki – Chris Wideman

Craig Anderson
Mike Condon

Scratched:
Injured: Clarke MacArthur, Bobby Ryan, Chris Neil

Columbus Blue Jackets

Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell – Sam Gagner – Brandon Saad
Nick Foligno – Alex Wennberg – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Lauri Korpikoski – William Karlsson – Josh Anderson

Zach Werenski – Seth Jones
Jack Johnson – David Savard
Kyle Quincey – Ryan Murray

Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo

Scartched: Markus Nutivarra, Scott Harrington
Injured: Matt Calvert, David Clarkson, Lukas Sedlak

Players to Watch

Ottawa: Craig Anderson. I know I don’t usually put a goalie in a player to watch category, but because of his roller coaster season of whats been occurring to him and his family off the ice, I put down here as someone to go out there and play hard every night. The veteran netminder has played with Chicago, Colorado, and Florida before his time in Ottawa. His resurgence had paid off and is keeping his team in the race for the post season.

Columbus: Nick Foligno. The former Senator is returning back to the city he first played in. Familarity in the home building and around success had shown him to be a key contributor to the Jackets’ dominance this season.

Enjoy the games tonight…
More to come.
Fans:
Follow me on Twitter @djzjmac12161. I will also have some points on the Caps-Flyers game as I am on route to the nation’s capital.