COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS VS. BOSTON BRUINS
TV: Bally Sports Ohio Jeff Rimer (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (color analyst), Dave Maetzold (reporter)
Radio: 97.1 The Fan Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)
THE MATCHUP
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
2021-22 Record: 28-25-2, 58 pts. (5th, Metropolitan Division)
Goals: 3.25 Goals-For/3.62 Goals-Against… Shots: 29.7 Shots-For/35.9 Shots-Against
Power Play: 17.0 percent (24th, NHL)… Penalty Kill: 80.4 percent (14th, NHL)
Penalty Minutes: 7.5 PIM (4th, NHL)… Overtime Record (Shootout): 9-1-1 (3-1)
BOSTON BRUINS
2021-22 Record: 33-18-4, 70 pts. (4th, Atlantic Division)
Goals: 3.00 Goals-For/2.65 Goals-Against… Shots: 35.2 Shots-For/29.3 Shots-Against
Power Play: 24.2 percent (7th, NHL)… Penalty Kill: 81.8 percent (10th, NHL)
Penalty Minutes: 9.6 (24th, NHL)… Overtime Record (Shootout): 5-2-2 (1-2)
Players to Watch: C Nick Foligno ranks third on the Blue Jackets all-time list in assists, points and games played and fourth in goals with 142-192-334 in 599 games from 2012-21 serving as the club’s captain in his final six seasons… RW David Pastrnak leads the Bruins in goals and points with 31-25-56 in 55 games this season… D Charlie McAvoy leads club defensemen with 7-27-34 in 52 appearances… G Jeremy Swayman leads the NHL in GAA and ranks third in SV% (min. 10 GP) with a 14-7-3 record, 1.95 GAA, .930 SV% and three shutouts in 25 games in rookie campaign.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Results: Columbus has gone 14-11-7 IN 32 all-time meetings, including 8-6-3 at home… Of Note: The teams did not meet in 2020-21… CBJ swept the two-game 2019-20 series, winning 2-1 in overtime at Boston on Jan. 2, 2020 and 3-0 at Columbus on Jan. 14, 2020… The Blue Jackets have earned points in seven of the last nine meetings overall since Dec. 27, 2016 (6-2-1) and won four of the last five at Nationwide Arena (4-1-0)… The winning team has scored three-plus goals in 11 of the last 12 meetings… CBJ have recorded power play goals in each of the last three home games (4-of-10; 40 pct.).
This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)
Mar. 5, 2022 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)
Apr. 2, 2022 – at Boston (7 p.m. ET)
Apr. 4, 2022 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)
HONORING NASH
Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played, will be the first player in CBJ history to have his number retired when “61” is raised to the rafters at Nationwide Arena prior to Saturday’s game vs. Boston. The former captain, who finished his NHL career with the Bruins in 2017-18, registered 289-258-547 in 674 games and appeared in five All-Star games as a Blue Jacket from 2002-12. The ceremony begins at 5:30pm on Saturday. For more information, visit CBJ61.com.
CBJ TEAM NOTES
The Blue Jackets picked up a point for the second consecutive game with a 4-3 overtime loss to Los Angeles on Friday… The club moved to 10-4-1 (21 pts) in its last 15 games and rank second-T in the NHL in wins and fourth-T in points since January 27… The Blue Jackets play the fourth contest of a five-game homestand on Saturday (vs. Boston). It’s part of a stretch of 9-of-11 contests played at Nationwide Arena from Feb. 27-Mar. 19… The club ranks third in the NHL in goals-per-game since Jan. 27 (4.07 avg), trailing only Toronto (4.33) and Florida (4.18)… CBJ have scored three or more goals in 33 of their 55 games this season (25-7-1)… The club in 23-3-0 when scoring four-plus goals in a game in 2021-22, recording four-plus goals in five of the last eight games… Columbus killed off Los Angeles’ lone power play attempt on Friday and has killed off 60-of-70 opponent chances over the last 23 games (85.7 pct.). The club ranks eighth in the NHL in penalty kill pct. since January 8… CBJ fell for the first time in 3-on-3 overtime this season on Friday 6-1-0) and for just the second time after regulation (9-1-1). The club still leads the league in win percentage after regulation (.818)… The Blue Jackets have trailed in 18 of their 28 victories this season with the club trailing by multiple goals in five of its contests. The 18 comeback victories are tied for the NHL lead in that category (Colorado and NY Rangers)… CBJ boast six 30-point scorers on the team… Columbus concludes its eighth of 15 back-to-back sets on Saturday. The club is 2-5-0 in the second game of the set (6-8-1 overall)… Columbus scored three goals in 46 seconds in the second period on Friday, setting the franchise record for the fastest three goals scored, surpassing the previous record of 51 seconds on Dec. 22, 2016 vs. Pittsburgh (Hartnell, Saad, Jenner).
CBJ PLAYER NOTES
RW Oliver Bjorkstrand has recorded goals in three-straight games after notching his 19th of the season on Friday and has points in nine of the last 12 games (7-3-10). He is one goal from his third 20-goal campaign of his career… LW Justin Danforth picked up his fifth goal of the season on Friday, recording four of his goals in his last nine games played… C Boone Jenner has 4-6-10 in the last nine games and 11-12-23 with six multi-point efforts in the last 22 contests. CBJ’s captain leads the club in goals, points and power play goals with 23-20-43 and eight PPG in 55 appearances and is on pace to set single-season career highs in both goals and points (30-19-49 in 82 GP in 2015-16)… C Sean Kuraly collected his third multi-point outing of the season with 0-2-2 and is on pace to set single-season career highs in goals and points with 8-12-20 in 55 games. He spent his first five NHL seasons with the Bruins, totaling 24-44-68 in 270 games… LW Patrik Laine notched a goal for the second-straight game (2-1-3) and has collected points in 13 of his last 15 games (15-9-24). He leads the NHL in goals and GWG (4, tied) and ranks third in points since January 27. He also leads the League in overtime winners (3, tied) and ranks third-T in game-winners (7)… D Andrew Peeke has played 21-plus minutes in each of the last 21 games since Jan. 13 (avg. 24:53, 19th in NHL), including a career-high 29:09 vs. New Jersey on Tuesday… RW Jakub Voracek has 0-8-8 in the last eight appearances, ranks third in the NHL in primary assists (29) and leads the club in assists overall (38)… D Zach Werenski, returned to action on Friday after missing four games with an upper body injury. He has tallied 2-10-12 in his last 13 games played.
MILESTONES
• C Max Domi is one goal from 100 for his NHL career (99-202-301, 474 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is four contests from 100 for his NHL career (40-35-15, 96 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (73-149-222, 384 GP) is two points from surpassing Seth Jones (50-173-223, 381 GP) for the most in CBJ history among blueliners.
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
• G Daniil Tarasov (lower body; Injured Reserve on Jan. 4) is out indefinitely
• C Alexandre Texier (fractured finger; Injured Reserve on Jan. 26) is expected to miss 4 weeks
• D Jake Bean (groin; Injured Reserve on Jan. 30) is expected to miss 4 weeks
• LW Eric Robinson (knee; Injured Reserve on Jan. 31) is expected to miss 6 weeks
• G Joonas Korpisalo (lower body; Injured Reserve retroactive to Feb. 15) is day-to-day
• D Adam Boqvist (upper body; Injured Reserve retroactive to Feb. 27) is day-to-day
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 223
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