Here are five things you should know about the Canadiens-Blue Jackets game at Nationwide Arena Tuesday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio):
The matchup: This is the second of three meetings between these teams and the Canadiens beat the Blue Jackets in a cliffhanger last Tuesday at the Bell Centre. Tomas Tatar scored with 41 seconds remaining in regulation and Jonathan Drouin scored the only goal in the shootout as the Canadiens defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2. The Canadians dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to New Jersey Saturday, but they are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and second in the Atlantic Division. Columbus is coming off a 3-2 overtime win over St. Louis, but the Jackets are 3-5-2 in their last 10.
Injury bug hits: Friday’s 5-2 win in Washington proved costly as Jonathan Drouin and Paul Byron suffered injuries that will keep them out of action indefinitely. Drouin survived a punishing hit from Alex Ovechkin in the second period, but he suffered a wrist injury later in the game and he had surgery Monday. Byron suffered a knee injury and will undergo surgery Tuesday. Coach Claude Julien said he won’t know how long the players will be out until later in the week. The injuries open up playing time for Jordan Weal and Charles Hudon.
Price gets the start: Carey Price, who made 33 saves and stopped three more shots in the shootout against Columbus last Tuesday, will start in the first half of a back-to-back set and you can start speculating on whether he’ll get a second start Wednesday at home against Ottawa. Julien kept his option open last week and waited until Saturday to anoint backup Keith Kinkaid as the starter against New Jersey. Look for Kinkaid to make another start Wednesday because (a) the Senators aren’t very good and (b) Price will benefit from the rest.
Tatar racking up points: With Drouin out of the lineup, Tomas Tatar is back where he started the season — on the top line with Phil Danault and Brendan Gallagher. While circumstances dictated the change, Julien said Tatar has earned his spot. He dropped Tatar on the depth chart because he wasn’t pulling his weight in the defensive end and he was taking too many unnecessary penalties. There haven’t been any complaints about his offensive game. He leads the Canadiens with 20 points, including seven goals, and is well on his way to surpassing the career-high 58 points he collected last season.
The other guys: The Blue Jackets are seriously short of firepower since Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel left via free agency. Columbus ranks 30th in offence with a mere 2.37 goals a game. The team’s leading scorer is Pierre-Luc Dubois, a 21-year-old from Ste-Agathe, who has 12 points, including a team-high seven goals. Panarin isn’t the only notable absentee from last year’s squad, which swept Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a two-time Vézina Trophy winner, abandoned Columbus for sunny Florida and his replacements, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins have goals-against averages over 3.00 and save percentages below .900.
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