The Senators hope to build on Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over Pittsburgh and a defensive performance that Jacques Martin called "My Kind of Game."
The Matchup: Ottawa Senators (26-33-4) at Columbus Blue Jackets (22-33-10) 7 p.m. (TSN5, RDS2).
History: This is the rubber match after the clubs split the first two games. Last month, Brady Tkachuk had a hat trick as the Sens beat the Jackets 6-3.
The game briefly got a little feisty when Columbus forward Boone Jenner went after Ridly Greig with an uncalled knee-on-knee hit that appeared to have some intent behind it. Greig didn't make any sort of evasive move or change in direction and was fortunate not to be injured on the play.
Zack is Back: Zack Ostapchuk makes his second career NHL start. While he was held off the scoresheet in the win over Pittsburgh on Tuesday, head coach Jacques Martin is clearly quite smitten with what he's seen so far. Martin had Ostapchuk out there late in the game on Tuesday as the Senators tried to protect a one goal lead and he was out there again in overtime.
Parker Kelly is back after a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on former Senator Andreas Englund last week. It's Jiri Smejkal, not Ostapchuk, who was sent back to Belleville to make room.
Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk-Shane Pinto-Drake Batherson
Mathieu Joseph-Tim Stutzle-Claude Giroux
Ridly Greig-Zack Ostapchuk-Dominik Kubalik
Boris Katchouk-Mark Kastelic-Parker Kelly
Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub
Jakob Chychrun-Maxence Guenette
Erik Brannstrom-Jacob Bernard-Docker
Anton Forsberg
Joonas Korpisalo
Injuries: Thomas Chabot (lower body), Josh Norris (shoulder), Matthew Highmore (upper body), Travis Hamonic (undisclosed), Zack MacEwen (lower body), Rourke Chartier (upper body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau-Boone Jenner-Alex Nylander
Trey Fix-Wolansky-Dmitri Voronkov-Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier-Cole Sillinger-Mikael Pyyhtia
Carson Meyer-Brendan Gaunce-Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski-Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov-Damon Severson
Jake Bean-Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Daniil Tarasov
Injuries: Adam Fantilli (calf), Patrik Laine (upper body), Justin Danforth (concussion), Sean Kuraly (lower body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body)
Anton Forsberg will start, despite Korpisalo's near shutout on Tuesday.
Claude Giroux has officially hit a cold spell, going a month now without scoring a goal (13 games) and posting just two assists in his last eight games.
Up front, Columbus literally has a Monster lineup. Yesterday, Mikael Pyyhtia became the fourth Cleveland Monster recalled from the AHL in the past week. The others are Carson Meyer, Trey Fix-Wolansky and Brendan Gaunce. That's four of the top six scorers in Cleveland this season, all in the Jackets' lineup tonight.
Elvis Merzlikins starts after being pulled at 5:48 into the game Tuesday. Daniil Tarasov made 19 saves in relief after Elvis left the building. That's probably a good break for the Senators as Tarasov's save percentage has been fantastic over the past seven games.
Draft lottery implications: Not a single player on the ice tonight will be thinking about the draft lottery, but the losing team's fan base can console themselves by considering the lottery implications.
Chicago and San Jose aren't going anywhere. They're neck and neck to finish with the best chance of landing the consensus number one, Macklin Celebrini.
But everyone else in the bottom seven, including Columbus and Ottawa, continues to jostle for position.
This is the time of year where fans are asking themselves, "Would I be willing to endure a poor final month of hockey if it meant my team goes from, for example, the seventh overall pick to third overall?"
