Game 43 preview: Ottawa Senators @ Lumbus Blue Jackets

The Ottawa Senators can move back into the top three in the Atlantic Division with a win in Lumbus against the Blue Jackets. The Senators are behind the Leafs on a tiebreaker while they are two points behind Boston with six (!!!) games in hand. Meanwhile, Lumbus has gone 3-4-0 in their last seven games following a club record 16-game winning streak.

Fredrik Claesson will replace Mark Borowiecki today who is out with the flu. With some other players also battling the flu, Casey Bailey has been recalled from Binghamton. Mike Condon will start in net again.

Here are the likely lines and pairings for the Senators.

Smith - Brassard - Stone
Dzingel - Turris - Ryan
Hoffman - Pageau - Pyatt
Kelly - Lazar - Neil

Methot - Karlsson
Phaneuf - Ceci
Claesson - Wideman

Condon (starter)
Driedger

Some notes for tonight:

• The Senators are 3-3-0 in 2017 against pretty tough competition. The combined record of their opponents is 185-83-41 counting Lumbus.
• Mike Hoffman is tied for second in the NHL with nine power play goals this season. He is sixth in the NHL with 47 power play shots.
• All of this is despite receiving only the 107th most power play ice time this season or 75th among forwards.
• The Senators have received the fourth fewest power play time in the league, although that is also because they have played the fewest games in the league.
• Ottawa is allowing 30.1 shots per game now which is 14th best in the NHL. That seems incredible for this ragtag band of misfits playing defence for this team.
• Mark Stone is on pace for 30 goals in 81 games, Kyle Turris is on pace for 29 in 82 and Mike Hoffman is on pace for 29 goals in 78 games. There is a decent chance of the Senators having three players with 30 goals.
• Curtis Lazar is incredibly still without a point this season.
• Tom Pyatt having only eight fewer shots on goal than Bobby Ryan is not something we were prepared for.
• Ottawa's only game against a non-playoff team this month will be on the last day of the month against the Panthers.
• Lumbus had to toggle through several goaltenders last week but it appears Sergei Bobrovsky is back and healthy./

Here are some stats for the two teams tonight. All stats are from NHL.com except Corsi and Fenwick are from Corsica.