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After less than 48 hours away from the barn, the Union Blue return to the ice tonight to do battle with the Ottawa Senators in their first meeting of the regular season at 6 o’clock this upcoming evening at Nationwide Arena. This is Columbus and Ottawa’s first matchup against each other since February 24, 2020, where the Jackets won in overtime.
Ottawa comes in with a younger and more skilled team than two years ago, with the drafting of German stud Tim Stützle; waiver claims in Adam Gaudette and Victor Mete; trade acquisitions in Zachary Sanford and Dylan Gambrell; and the rising superstar in winger Drake Batherson. What also seems to be a surprise when looking at this Ottawa roster is the number of former Blue Jackets sprinkled in: defenders Nick Holden, Michael Del Zotto, and Dillon Heatherington, plus starting goalie Anton Forsberg. For Holden, MDZ, and Heatherington, this is all their first seasons in ottawa; while it is Forsberg’s second. The only one that does not have an expiring contract is Del Zotto, though he was just waived and is playing in Belleville. Here are their current stat lines for the 2021-2022 season:
G Anton Forsberg: 15 GP / 6-6-1 / 3.17GAA / 0.907 SV% / 1 SO
D Nick Holden: 28 GP / 1G / 3A / 4P / 4 PIM / -5
D Michael Del Zotto: 10GP / 2G / 4A / 6P / 6 PIM / -9 // 11 points in 8 AHL games
D Dillon Heatherington: 9GP / 0G / 0A / 0P / 7 PIM / -1 // 8 points in 15 AHL games
Since the last time these teams played, the Marc Methot trade tree has expanded, with Nick Foligno being dealt to Toronto at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline at 50% salary retention in exchange for a 2021 1st Round Draft Pick (#25 overall– RD Carson Ceulemans) and a 2022 4th round pick. After the Methot claim to Vegas, here is how the trade looks between the two teams, based off the two keys pieces
Ottawa – nothing
Columbus – RD Ceuleumans, 2022 4th round draft selection (from Toronto)
Tonight, the Columbus lineup becomes a little bit more normal. Per head coach Brad Larsen via Jeff Svoboda of the NHL:
“Cole Sillinger and Vladislav Gavrikov are able to return from COVID protocol tonight.
Dean Kukan also goes in. Carlsson, Christainsen, Bemstrom out.
Elvis Merzlikins starts in the net.”
Projected Lineups: * = All-Star Representative/ ( C ) = Team Captain
Ottawa Senators (from Daily Faceoff via Claire Hanna of TSN)
Brady Tkachuk (C) -– Josh Norris– Drake Batherson*
Alex Formenton– Tim Stützle– Zach Sanford
Nic Paul– Dylan Gambrell– Austin Watson
Logan Shaw-Chris Tierney- Adam Gaudette
Thomas Chabot– Jared Benard-Docker
Nick Holden– Artem Zub
Erik Brannstrom– Josh Brown
Anton Forsberg
Fillip Gustavsson
Scratched– Tyler Ennis, Victor Mete, Matt Murray
Injured– Connor Brown, Colin White, Shane Pinto, Nikita Zaitsev, Scott Sabourin, Angus Crookshank
Taxi Squad– Mark Kastelic, Dillon Heatherington
Columbus Blue Jackets (per NHL.com staff)
Gustav Nyquist–Boone Jenner (C)–Oliver Bjorkstrand
Patrik Laine–Cole Sillinger–Jakub Voracek
Max Domi–Jack Roslovic–Alexandre Texier
Eric Robinson–Sean Kuraly–Yegor Chinakov
Zach Werenski*–Vladislav Gavrikov
Jake Bean–Andrew Peeke
Dean Kukan–Gavin Bayreuther
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched– Gabriel Carlsson, Emil Bemstrom, Jake Christiansen
Injured– Adam Boqvist, Justin Danforth, Daniil Tarasov, Nathan Gerbe
Players to Watch
Ottawa–
F Drake Batherson – Batherson has been a rising prospect in the Sens’ system, and with the injuries to their top forwards, he has broken out to be their lone representative to the upcoming NHL All-Star Game in Vegas. In 29 games played this season, he has 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points. In one career game against Columbus, he is pointless, with a -1 rating.
Columbus–
F Max Domi – Domer was a star as a Canadien against the Senators, putting up 9 points in 8 games as a Hab; however, as a Coyote, he only had 2 assists in 6 games. Combined, his totals are 11 points in 14 games against Ottawa. The expiring forward has 17 points in 28 games played with 18 penalty minutes and a -3 rating on the season. If he can pull more grit and skill, he can find his way onto a new time for the postseason, and help Columbus collect points now.
Thoughts? More to come...
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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