Anaheim @ Columbus preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 4, 2018 ) Columbus 2, Anaheim 3

The Anaheim Ducks hope their offense travels well as they begin a six-game road trip on Saturday with a date against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have won each of the last four encounters at Nationwide Arena. The Ducks, however, got the last laugh on Nov. 4 as defenseman Cam Fowler completed his first career hat trick by scoring 36 seconds into overtime in a 3-2 versus the Blue Jackets.

Forward Ondrej Kase also netted three goals on Wednesday as Anaheim collected its seventh win in eight outings with a 6-3 triumph over Dallas. "He's been a clutch goal scorer numerous times for our hockey club," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said of the 23-year-old Kase. "He's been the energizer bunny. He's that type of player that seems to hound the puck. Now he's getting rewarded for the hard work he's putting in." While Anaheim is set to hit the road, Columbus improved to 1-2-0 on its season-high six-game homestand with a 4-1 victory versus Los Angeles on Thursday. Defenseman Seth Jones, who had two assists in the first meeting with the Ducks, set up Artemi Panarin's power-play goal against the Kings to record his 200th career point and push his point total to nine (four goals, five assists) in his last eight games overall.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, KCOP-13 (Anaheim), FS Ohio (Columbus)

ABOUT THE DUCKS (17-11-5): Defenseman Brandon Montour has stepped up in place of the injured Fowler (facial fractures), answering his two-point effort in Sunday's 6-5 shootout victory versus New Jersey by scoring a goal and setting up three others -- all in the third period -- to highlight a franchise high-tying plus-5 rating against the Stars. Jakob Silfverberg has scored a goal in four consecutive contests while captain Ryan Getzlaf set up a pair of tallies for the second straight game to boost his team-leading assist (18) and point (26) totals. "Getz is a special player," Carlyle said of the 33-year-old. "He's a guy that play in a lot of different situations. A lot of our offense runs through him."

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (17-12-2): Panarin (team-leading 25 assists) posted his third multi-point performance in the last five games and 10th of the season by tallying twice against Los Angeles. Cam Atkinson, who has nine multi-point efforts in 2018-19, has scored 13 of his team-leading 19 goals and added 10 assists in his last 15 games. Pierre-Luc Dubois has recorded 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in that span and now finds himself tied for second on the team with 13 goals after Josh Anderson tallied versus the Kings.

OVERTIME

1. Columbus RW Oliver Bjorkstrand has collected a point in back-to-back games for the second time this season and has one goal and three assists in his last five outings.

2. Anaheim has outscored its opponents by a 16-4 margin in the third period and overtime in its last eight contests.

3. The Blue Jackets have killed off all 10 short-handed situations over their last four games.

PREDICTION: Blue Jackets 3, Ducks 2