JAN. 10, 2023 II AMALIE ARENA II at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  Bally Sports Ohio           Jeff Rimer (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Dave Maetzold (reporter)              
Radio:  97.1 The Fan              Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

Lightning to Watch

«  RW Nikita Kucherov, who was selected to the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, ranks second-T in the NHL in the assists and sixth in points with 14-41-55 in 38 appearances in 2022-23 and has registered 16 multi-point efforts with seven contests of three or more points.

«  Seven-time NHL All-Star C Steven Stamkos ranks second on the team in goals, assists and points with 17-26-43 in 38 games and has points in seven of his last nine contests (1-8-9).

«  G Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy (best netminder) in four of the last five seasons and won it in 2018-19, is 16-10-1 with a 2.45 GAA and .919 SV% in 27 contests in 2022-23.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 14-24-7 in 45 all-time meetings vs. Tampa Bay, including 5-13-4 on the road.

«  The Blue Jackets have gone 4-7-3 in the past 14 regular season meetings since the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

«  Tampa Bay has won five-straight home games in the series since Apr. 1, 2021 (CBJ; 0-4-1).

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in eight of the last nine games of the series, including six-straight.

«  The Lightning own six of the eight shutouts in the all-time series and both penalty shot attempts.

«  Neither team has recorded a hat trick in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

«  Oct. 14, 2022 – TBL 5, at CBJ 2

«  Dec. 15, 2022 – at TBL 4, CBJ 1

«  Jan. 10, 2023 – at Tampa Bay (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Tampa Bay

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 6-10-16 in 15 career GP, including goals in two of his last three games (4-0-4).

«  C Kent Johnson – 0-2-2 in 4 career GP, including assists in two of his last three contests vs. Tampa Bay.

«  G Elvis Merzlikins – 3-4-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% in 7 career GP, including a 2.62 GAA and .921 SV% in 5 career contests at Tampa Bay.

«  LW Gustav Nyquist – 10-9-19 in 29 career GP, including points in four of the last seven contests (4-2-6).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus fell in the first game of its two-game road trip, 1-0 at Washington on Sunday.
• The Blue Jackets begin 2023 with eight-straight games against Eastern Conference teams.  The stretch from January 3-16 includes five contests vs. Metropolitan Division opponents.
• CBJ will play four of their next five games at home following Tuesday’s contest at Tampa Bay.
• The club scored two power play goals in a game for the fifth time this season against Carolina on Saturday (2-of-5).  CBJ are 16-of-74 on the power play in 28 contests since November 5 (21.6 pct.) after scoring on just one of their first 32 power play chances through the first 11 games (3.1 pct.).
• Columbus’ blueliners have recorded 4-8-12 in the last nine contests and 17-42-59 in 40 games during the 2022-23 season.
• The Blue Jackets have had 23 different players score a goal this season, tied with Detroit and Nashville for the most in the League.
• CBJ rookies registered 3-3-6 against the Hurricanes and have combined for 8-6-14 over the last eight games.  They lead all NHL teams in goals and rank third in points with 21-24-45 in 39 games in 2022-23.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Emil Bemstrom has collected assists in two of the last three games (0-3-3) and points in four of his six games since being recalled by CBJ on December 28 (2-3-5).  He has posted 3-4-7 in his last nine games with the Blue Jackets dating back to November 19.  The winger has also registered points in 14 of his 16 games played split between CBJ and the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters with 9-13-22 recorded since Nov. 25.
• D Tim Berni has racked up 18 hits over his last four contests (4.5 avg.) and registered a career high in hits in each of the past two contests with six vs. Carolina on Saturday and at Washington on Sunday.
• D Marcus Bjork has registered 1-3-4 in his last six games.  He ranks second among NHL rookie blueliners in points-per-game (min. 15 GP) with 3-8-11 and .44 Pt/GP in 25 appearances.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau recorded a goal and was named to his seventh NHL All-Star Game – and first with the Blue Jackets – on Thursday.  He has collected 4-16-20 in his last 20 contests.  The winger tied the franchise record for most assists in the month of December (Panarin, 13 in Dec. 2017) with 2-13-15 in 14 games.  He finished the 2022 calendar year with 38-81-119 in 88 games split between Calgary and Columbus to end the year second-T in the League in assists and third in points.  His 81 assists were the second most by a U.S-born player in a single season in NHL history, trailing only Craig Janney’s 82 in 1992.
• C Kent Johnson collected his first career multi-assist effort and second multi-point outing with two assists on Saturday, while also notching his first career shootout deciding goal vs. Carolina.  He ranks fifth-T among NHL rookies in goals, sixth-T in points and eighth-T in points-per-game (min. 15 GP) with 8-10-18 in 36 contests (.50 Pt/GP).
• G Joonas Korpisalo has stopped 159-of-169 shots over his last six games played to rank third in the NHL in save percentage (.941) and sixth in goals-against average (2.01) since December 9 (min. 5 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko became the sixth rookie in CBJ history to record a hat trick with three goals against Carolina on Saturday.  He has recorded six goals in his last eight appearances.  He leads NHL rookies in goals and ranks third in points since December 11 with 8-0-8 in 13 contests.
• C Jack Roslovic has picked up 2-12-14 in 18 outings since December 1 after totaling 1-5-6 in his first 25 games of the campaign.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov is seven games from 100 for his NHL career (11-16-27, 91 GP).
• G Joonas Korpisalo is one game from 200 for his NHL career (81-74-22, 199 GP).
• LW/RW Patrik Laine is seven points from 100 for his CBJ career (45-48-93, 124 GP).
• C Jack Roslovic is two points from 100 for his CBJ career (37-61-98, 164 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Jake Bean (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 17); out 4-to-6 months (24 games)
• D Nick Blankenburg (ankle) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); 6-to-8 weeks (26 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (ankle) is on Injured Reserve (Dec. 20); out indefinitely (8 games)
• C/RW Justin Danforth (torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (33 games)
• C Boone Jenner (fractured thumb) is on Injured Reserve (Dec. 19); 4-weeks (8 games)
• LW Eric Robinson (upper body) is day-to-day (3 games)
• G Daniil Tarasov (upper body) is day-to-day (5 games)
• LW Jakub Voracek (upper body) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (28 games)
• D Zach Werenski (shoulder separation/torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); out 6 months (26 games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 259

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS