Game Preview: Blue Jackets Look To Make It Three Straight Wins, Face Sens North Of The Border

With wins in back-to-back games, the Columbus Blue Jackets will look to make it three in a row in the win column Monday night when they face the Ottawa Senators.

This game is being delayed by 30 minutes as a result of Columbus' travel woes, with their flight for Ottawa not leaving until just after 2:30 p.m.

Here are five things to know before the 7:30 p.m. puck-drop:

• The Senators struggled out of the holiday break in a 7-5 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Linus Ullmark started that game but was pulled and has since left the team for personal reasons. Leevi Merilainen is the projected starter for Monday; he is 4-6-0 in ten appearances this season with a 3.43 goals against average and .874 save percentage.
   
• Mason Marchment was elated with Columbus' come-from-behind win Sunday night against the New York Islanders. “Coming back like that, that can build something for us,” said Marchment. Acquired last week by Columbus, Marchment has three goals and an assist in his first three games with the team.
   
• Kirill Marchenko scored twice in that game and now has three goals in his last two games. After going without a point in his previous four games, it looks like #86 may be heating up yet again.
   
• Columbus goes into this game without Yegor Chinakhov on its roster, as the disgruntled forward was dealt by the Blue Jackets to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
   
• No goaltender has been officially announced and word may not come until just before puck-drop as a result of the travel difficulties, but with Jet Greaves starting Sunday night, it would seem that Elvis Merzlikins is in line for the start Monday night. Just one potential change to the lineups, with the official team website projecting Miles Wood and Kent Johnson to swap spots. Based on that, here are the complete projections: