Game Preview: Seeking Weekend Home Sweep, Blue Jackets Out To Stop Penguins Four-Game Winning Streak

The Columbus Blue Jackets are right back at it for matinee hockey on a Sunday afternoon at Nationwide Arena as they battle Yegor Chinakhov and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Coming in winners of four straight games, the Penguins find themselves situated right in the thick of the Metropolitan Division, five points ahead of last-place Columbus, four points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes, and occupying the second Eastern Conference wild card spot.

Chinakhov, acquired by the Penguins for Danton Heinen and two draft picks last week, scored his first goal for the Penguins during Saturday's 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. 

The Blue Jackets have been on a bit of a recent tear as well, having ended the red-hot Buffalo Sabres' 10-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon, and Columbus enters Sunday's game winners of four of their last five games.

Here are five other things to know before the 3:00 p.m. puck-drop:

• It's been a bit of a surprise that the Penguins have been able to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference this season, albeit the entire conference remains bunched together and everyone is above .500. But it's also been a bit turbulent for the Penguins. Their recent four-game winning streak, and five wins out of six, comes following an eight-game losing streak Dec. 7-20 (0-4-4).
   
• Before the Blue Jackets' win on Saturday over Buffalo, the Jackets were starting to feel good about themselves, with three straight wins, minus Zach Werenski, before the winning luck ran out just before the end of the year in Wednesday's tough 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on New Year's Eve. Looking to regroup on Saturday, Columbus received good news as Werenski returned from a lower-body injury. By his own admission, he was fighting off some rust after missing the previous four games, but still contributed to the scoresheet with two assists and had a game-high five shots. Werenski has 14 goals and 28 assists (42 points) in 36 games played and is on a six-game point streak (five goals, seven assists), with five multi-point games in that span. He's also on a 13-game home point streak at Nationwide Arena (nine goals, 15 assists), dating all the way back to Oct. 29.
   
• Columbus is 4-3-0 in the second of back-to-backs this season, already doubling up on their entire win total in that situation from last year, when they went 2-10-0. With points a premium in a tightly contested Eastern Conference, and Sunday's inner-division affair being, as they say, a four-point game, Columbus looks to keep that winning vibe going as it looks to stay close to the rest of the Metro and get out of last place.
   
• Jet Greaves has made the last five starts, going 4-1-0, tied for the league lead in wins in that stretch, with a .944 win percentage and 1.61 goals against average. He also started the last back-to-back the Jackets had when they beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Dec. 28 and the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Dec. 29. Elvis Merzlikins last played on Dec. 20, a 4-1 loss at the Anaheim Ducks. He's only made two starts since Dec. 11.
   
• The Blue Jackets' recent hot surge has coincided with the acquisition of Mason Marchment, who hit the ground running with his new club, securing six points (four goals, two assists) in six games. He became the first Blue Jacket to have three goals in his first two games with the club and the first to record a point in each of his first five games with the franchise. Saturday's game was the first game he's been held off the scoresheet, but he did absorb a big shot block of his right foot in the waning seconds of the second period, leaving him in discomfort as he finished his shift. He left for the room with 19.5 seconds remaining and returned for the third period. In more of a lighthearted moment in the third, Marchment blocked another shot, this time, with the puck knocking out the right skate blade along the boards opposite the bench. Damon Severson helped "tow" him back toward the bench, and he finally got back there with the aid of several teammates. 
   
• As we get set for another afternoon tilt, here are the complete lineup projections: