APR. 14, 2023 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. BUFFALO SABRES
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)
THE MATCHUP
Sabres to Watch
« D Rasmus Dahlin ranks fourth-T among NHL blueliners in points and sixth in assists with 15-58-73 in 77 contests in 2022-23.
« C Tage Thompson ranks sixth in the NHL in goals and leads the Sabres in goals, points and ranks second in assists with 47-47-94 in 78 games this season.
« RW Alex Tuch, who has registered assists in five-straight games (0-6-6), ranks second on the team in goals and third in points with 35-43-78 in 73 outings in 2022-23.
All-Time Series
« Columbus has gone 24-13-3 in 40 all-time meetings vs. Buffalo, including 11-6-1 at home.
« CBJ are 7-3-0 in the last 10 home games against Buffalo dating back to Apr. 10, 2015.
« The Blue Jackets have recorded points in eight of their last nine games of the series overall (6-1-2).
« Four of the last eight meetings have been decided after regulation with each team winning two games in overtime over that timeframe.
« The winning team has recorded four or more goals in six-straight games and 10 of the last 11 since Oct. 27, 2018.
« Each team has recorded three shutouts in the all-time series with Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky stopping 38 shots in a 4-0 victory at Buffalo on Mar. 31, 2019 in the most recent one.
« Tage Thompson (5-1-6) registered Buffalo’s first hat trick in the series on December 7 while Eric Robinson (3-0-3) recorded Columbus’ first in the most recent meeting on February 28.
« Dec. 7, 2022 – BUF 9, at CBJ 4
« Feb. 28, 2023 – CBJ 5, at BUF 3
« Apr. 14, 2023 – at COLUMBUS (7:30 p.m. ET)
Player Notables vs. Sabres
« LW Johnny Gaudreau – 8-8-16 in 15 career GP, including points in seven of his eight career home contests (5-5-10).
« C Sean Kuraly – 3-4-7 in 22 career GP, including points in four of his last six outings against Buffalo (2-2-4).
« C Jack Roslovic – 3-2-5 in 10 career GP with all of his points notched in the last five contests.
BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES
- The Blue Jackets earned points for a second-straight game (1-0-1) following a 3-2 overtime victory over the Penguins on Thursday.
- The club plays its final game of the campaign at home at Nationwide Arena on Friday against Buffalo. It also closes out the team’s 17th back-to-back set of the season.
- CBJ are 12-8-1 in season finales in franchise history and 6-4-1 when played at Nationwide Arena. The club has earned victories in each of its last four-season finales when played at NWA.
- The Blue Jackets are 11-7-3 in home finales in club history and have won each of their last three home finales.
- The Jackets, who trailed 1-0 and 2-1 to Pittsburgh, have come-from-behind to win in nine of their last 12 victories.
- CBJ finished 1-for-4 on the power play on Thursday and have now recorded a power play goal in 13 of their last 21 games (15-for-63; 23.8 pct.). The team ranks 10th in the NHL in power play percentage since February 28.
- The team also ranks eighth in the NHL in PP pct. since January 21, converting on 24-of-104 opportunities over the last 36 contests (23.1 pct.).
- CBJ rookies have posted 16-25-41 in the last 18 contests and 41-45-86 over the last 50 outings. They lead all NHL teams in goals and rank second in points (Montreal; 129) with 54-64-118 in 81 contests in 2022-23 and have set a franchise record for the most goals (37, 2017-18), assists (56, 2016-17) and points (83, 2016-17; 82, 2017-18) recorded by team rookies in a single season.
- RW Kirill Marchenko (21) and C Kent Johnson (16) are the third pair of rookie teammates to score double digit goals in a single season in club history, joining C Serge Aubin (13) and RW David Vyborny (13) in 2000-01 and C Pierre-Luc Dubois (20) and LW Sonny Milano (14) in 2017-18.
- CBJ added 11-man games lost due to injury/illness on Thursday against Pittsburgh to reach 552 MGL this season and continue to set a new single-season record (508 MGL, 2014-15).
- Four players made their NHL debuts on Thursday against Pittsburgh (Tyler Angle, Samuel Knazko, Mikael Pyyhtia, Stanislav Svozil), marking the first time in franchise history the club has had four players make their debuts in the same game. The team has set a franchise record this season with 47 players (goaltenders/skaters) and six goaltenders playing in a game, surpassing the previous record of 43 (2003-04) and five (2006-07 and 2008-09) respectively.
- CBJ are on pace to post the highest attendance for games played at Nationwide Arena since 2003-04 (17,369) this season. The club has averaged 16,811 with 13 sellouts (18,144) in 2022-23. The club has posted sellouts in seven of the last eight home games (18,600 avg.).
BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES
- D Gavin Bayreuther has set single-season career highs in goals (tied), assists, points and games played with 2-11-13 in 50 contests in 2022-23.
- D Adam Boqvist has registered 5-8-13 in his last 24 contests and 5-12-17 in his past 29 appearances. He has recorded 5-18-23 in 45 games, setting single-season career highs in assists and points.
- F Liam Foudy has posted 5-4-9 in the last 18 games and 7-4-11 over the past 26 outings after collecting 0-3-3 in his first 35 games of the campaign.
- LW Johnny Gaudreau notched his third OT winner of the season on Thursday and has posted 5-13-18 in his last 17 games. He leads the club in assists, points, game-winning goals, OT goals, multi-assist efforts (14) and multi-point games (20) with 20-53-73 and four GWG in 79 games this season. He has registered his fourth 50-assist campaign and fifth 70-point season of his career. His 53 assists are the fourth-most in a single-season in club history while his 73 points are tied for the fifth-most.
- C Boone Jenner was named the club’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Columbus PHWA on Monday. The club’s captain, who has recorded 7-2-9 in the last 15 outings, has also posted 12-7-19 in his last 28 outings and 15-8-22 in his past 34 games. He leads the team in goals with 26-19-45 in 68 contests in 2022-23, recording 25-plus goals for the second time in his career. It’s four goals and points shy of tying his single-season career high set in 2015-16 (30-19-49 in 82 GP).
- C Kent Johnson has collected 2-4-6 in his last 12 outings and 3-8-11 in his past 18 contests. He ranks fifth among League rookies in scoring in 2022-23 and is the third rookie in CBJ history to record 40 points in a single campaign with 16-24-40 in 78 games.
- RW Kirill Marchenko has posted 21-4-25 and seven power play tallies in 58 games since making his NHL debut at Pittsburgh on December 6. He has set a franchise record for most goals by a rookie in a single campaign (Dubois, 20 in 2017-18) and tied the club mark for most power play goals (Jaroslav Balastik, 2005-06). Marchenko is tied for the NHL lead among rookies in power play goals (Mason McTavish) and ranks third in goals in 2022-23.
- D Andrew Peeke, who ranks third in the NHL in blocked shots in 2022-23 with 195, has surpassed Ryan Murray (171; 2015-16) for the most blocked shots in a single season in club history (since 2005-06). He has recorded a blocked shot in 73 of his 79 contests this season.
- C Jack Roslovic has registered 4-4-8 in his last 10 games played. He has set a single-season career high in assists and is one point shy of tying his single-season career high (45; 2021-22) with 11-33-44 in 76 contests this season.
BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES
- C Boone Jenner (170-159-329, 657 GP) is six points from surpassing Nick Foligno (142-192-334) for third-most in Blue Jackets history.
- LW Patrik Laine is two goals from 200 for his NHL career (198-181-379, 462 GP).
- C Jack Roslovic is 10 points from 200 for his NHL career (71-119-190, 385 GP).
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
- D Jake Bean (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 17); out 4-to-6 months (66 games)
- D Nick Blankenburg (lower body) is week-to-week (9 games)
- C/RW Justin Danforth (torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (75 games)
- D Erik Gudbranson (separated shoulder) is expected to miss six weeks (10 games)
- C Boone Jenner (upper body) is day-to-day (2 games)
- LW Patrik Laine (triceps) is expected to miss two-to-four weeks (11 games)
- G Elvis Merzlikins (lower body) is day-to-day (9 games)
- RW Mathieu Olivier (lower body) is week-to-week (10 games)
- C Lane Pederson (upper body) is day-to-day (7 games)
- LW Eric Robinson (upper body) is day-to-day (2 games)
- D Zach Werenski (shoulder separation/torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); expected to miss rest or reg. season (68 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 552
COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS
