The Blue Jackets return home tonight for the first time in a week. They will host the Ottawa Senators, a team they have not faced yet this season.

The Jackets stumble into this one on a three game losing skid, having gone 0-for their road trip over the last five days. So far in December, they are 2-2-1, giving them 5 points in 5 games.

That is not going to be good enough to maintain a playoff pace in the extremely competitive Eastern Conference. In fact, as they continue to throw points away, they sit dead last in the Metropolitan Division.

Tonight, they face an Ottawa team that has had its own share of struggles.

The Opponent

The Senators are one of only two teams behind the Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference standings. They are 13-12-4, with 30 points in 29 games played.

They also enter tonight’s game having lost three in a row, all at home. Their most recent loss was a 4-3 decision to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

Part of the reason for their struggles has been the injury bug. They’ve been without some key players for long stretches already this season; not the least of which is captain Brady Tkachuk, who missed 20 games before returning late in November.

Currently, they are without defenseman Thomas Chabot and forward Shane Pinto, both of whom fit into the top half of their lineup.

The Sens are led in scoring by Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle, who have matching stat lines of 12 goals and 26 points. Defenseman Jake Sanderson (6-18-24) sits third, and has emerged as one of the best two-way defensemen in the league.

The issue for Ottawa has been their goaltending. Returning starter Linus Ullmark is just 10-8-4 on the season, with a poor stat line. He has a .877% save percentage and 3.05 goals against average entering this game.

When he’s on his game, he is one of the very best in the league. For his career, he’s done very well against the Jackets. So of course, this is a storyline we’ll have to watch for tonight if he gets the start.

The Good Guys

There is good news and bad news within the CBJ lineup tonight. The good news: captain Boone Jenner will make his return after missing the last 14 games with an undisclosed injury.

The bad news: for some reason, this coincides with Adam Fantilli coming off of the top line. He’ll swap places with Sean Monahan.

It’s a bit of a head scratcher for me, because I thought Adam was the team’s most dangerous forward on Tuesday night in Carolina. He had several good looks against a stingy Hurricanes team.

I understand that Dean Evason is trying to find a second line that works. My only argument is that he’s breaking up a top line that has worked. Simply put, he’s been much better with Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov, than he was with Boone Jenner and Kent Johnson:

I mean, I get the idea, but…

In 10 games on this line, he had a 2-3-5 stat line. In 20 games on the top line, he had 9 goals and 15 points.

— Union and Blue (@UnionAndBlue) December 11, 2025

Meanwhile, the Jackets will turn back to Elvis Merzlikins in goal. It’s a bold move, considering the way his last two starts went-and, subsequently, the last two starts they got from Jet Greaves.

With that said, Elvis has put up really good numbers against the Sens in his career; with a 3-2-2 record, .931% save percentage and 2.30 goals against average.

Three Keys to Success

1. Stay out of the box. Ottawa lives and breathes with their power-play. They are 5th in the NHL with a 24.7% efficiency. More than a quarter of their goals have come with the extra man this season.

2. Shoot the puck. I was in the building in Raleigh on Tuesday night, and it was maddening to see in person how often this team defers pucks out of the slot for perimeter shots. When you get the puck between the circles, there is no reason not to put it on net. Especially off of the rush.

3. Feed off of the energy. First home game in a week. Captain returning to the lineup. Playing a team that has lost three in a row. Get after them early and do not let them off of the mat.

Puck drop is scheduled for shortly after 7:00PM tonight from Nationwide. You can catch the action via all of the usual methods, or better yet: go check it out in person.