Blue Jackets vs. Senators: A Must-Win for Columbus

The Columbus Blue Jackets have to be feeling pretty down in the dumps after the way the team has performed to start the season.

After Friday night's 5-2 loss to Detroit, the Jackets are now 0-6-1 and only have one point and are currently the worst team in the league. Derrick Brassard and Aaron Johnson scored the only goals Friday night while Steve Mason stopped 28 shots. But the team is still not together, according to coach Scott Arneil.

"These guys are going to have to find a way to find the answers to get a win," the Columbus coach said. "The only answers are going to come from that room. We've got to stick together."

They're going to have to, unfortunately because they are still without center Jeff Carter (broken foot), RW Jared Boll (hand), and D James Wisniewski (suspension). Honestly, these guys are the best core guys the Jackets have and without these players, they're going to have a tougher time getting up the standings and catching the leaders of the Western Conference.

But there might be some hope for the Jackets to redeem themselves a bit and that's Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators. The Senators are 2-5-0 with four points after a Thursday win against the Jets, but they aren't looking too hot right now, either. Ottawa has been outscored 14-2 in the opening 20 minutes of its seven games, so maybe Columbus has a chance to get their offense going, but without their key players, Ottawa can easily turn themselves around and put up a fight against the Jackets. After all, Senators goalie Craig Anderson is 4-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average in his last four starts against the Blue Jackets. And that might not be a good sign for the Jackets.

The Jackets need to win now because their schedule down the stretch is pretty brutal. After Ottawa, Home against Detroit, at Buffalo, at Chicago, and then home against Anaheim to finish the month. That could be bad and these are premier teams that can really do some damage.

Will the Jackets succeed in getting a win in Ottawa? We'll be finding out. I'll be watching the game and seeing just if the Jackets can pull themselves together and finally nitch out a win. Enjoy your Saturday hockey, puckheads!