By Melville Van Buren
Bruins to Watch
« D Charlie McAvoy leads club blueliners with 3-10-13 in 16 appearances and has picked up 1-9-10 in 12 career games against the Blue Jackets
« RW David Pastrnak ranks fourth in the League in points and fifth-T in goals with 13-18-31 in 20 contests and has totaled 8-12-20 in 19 career outings against CBJ.
« G Jeremy Swayman (7-1-2, 2.28 GAA, .927 SV%) and G Linus Ullmark (7-2-1, 2.58 GAA, .918 SV%) have combined to allow 2.50 goals-against/game, ranking fourth best in the NHL.
All-Time Series
« Columbus has gone 14-14-10 in 38 all-time games against Boston, including 8-7-5 at home.
« The Bruins have won the last six contests in the series (CBJ; 0-3-3) since a 3-0 Blue Jackets win at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 14, 2020.
« CBJ have recorded points in six of the last eight home games of the series dating back to Dec. 27, 2016 (4-2-2).
« Seven of the last 14 games in the series have been decided after regulation (five in overtime), while two of the past three at Nationwide Arena were decided in overtime/shootout.
« The winning team has scored four or more goals in nine of the last 12 meetings in Ohio.
« CBJ have killed off 35-of-38 Bruins power play opportunities over the past 13 contests at Nationwide Arena (92.1 pct).
« The Blue Jackets have posted two of the six shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins (34 saves in 3-0 win at CBJ on Jan. 14, 2020) posting the most recent one for Columbus.
« Each team has recorded a hat trick (CBJ’s Boone Jenner on Mar. 12, 2019) and penalty shot attempt (CBJ’s Alexander Wennberg successful on Feb. 16, 2016).
This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)
« Nov. 27, 2023 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)
« Dec. 3, 2023 – at Boston (7 p.m. ET)
« Jan. 2, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)
Player Notables vs. Bruins
« LW Johnny Gaudreau – 9-8-17 in 16 career GP with points in 12 of his contests, while also posting points in six of his eight career home contests (5-4-9).
« F Patrik Laine – 3-8-11 in 13 career GP, including 2-7-9 with three multi-point efforts in his last eight contests against the club.
« D Zach Werenski – 3-5-8 in 14 career GP, including goals in two of his last three games overall at home.
BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES
- The Blue Jackets had their two-game win streak snapped with a 3-2 loss at Carolina on Sunday. The club had earned wins over Chicago (7-3) last Wednesday and at New Jersey (2-1) on Friday.
- Each of the past two games have been decided by a single goal with CBJ earning a split in them. CBJ have played 11 one-goal games this season, including in eight of the last 12. Another four contests have been two goal finishes thanks to the addition of empty net goals (Oct. 12 vs. PHI, Oct. 20 vs. CGY, Nov. 2 vs. TBL and Nov. 14 vs. PIT).
- The Blue Jackets conclude their fourth of 13 back-to-back sets of the season on Monday vs. Boston.
- Sunday’s game at Carolina kicked off a stretch of nine games in 15 days through Dec. 10. The team plays six of those contests at home.
- CBJ play their next four games against Atlantic Division opponents, including two against the division-leading Bruins and one each against Ottawa and Montreal.
- The club denied Carolina on both of its power play chances and has now killed off all eight opponent power play chances over the last three contests. Columbus has also allowed power play goals in just two of the past 15 games (Nov. 16. vs. ARI) and (Nov. 19. vs. PHI), killing off 36-of-38 opponent power play chances (94.7 pct.).
- CBJ rank second in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season at 88.9 pct. (56-of-63) and lead the League in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20 (92.3 pct.), killing off 48-of-52 opponent power play chances over the last 19 games.
- The Blue Jackets scored three first period goals on Wednesday and two more on Friday and rank fourth-T in the NHL with 25 first period goals and seventh-T in first period goal differential (+6).
- Columbus, which was credited with 27 blocked shots on Sunday, has combined for 218 blocked shots over the past 11 games (since Nov. 6) and ranks second in the NHL in blocked shots (428) and blocked shots-per-60 minutes (19.22).
- Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 4-13-17 over the past six contests and rank third-T among NHL defensive units in assists and fifth-T in points with 9-45-54 in 22 games this season.
- CBJ rookie class has posted 8-14-22 in 22 games this season, ranking third among teams’ rookies in goals, assists and points, trailing only Chicago (13-17-30) and Anaheim (7-18-25).
- The Blue Jackets play their fourth of seven Monday games this season (five at home) when they host the Bruins.
BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES
- RW Justin Danforth, who ranks third-T on the club in goals (5), has collected 2-2-4 in his last eight games, including setting up the game-winner on Friday.
- 2023 third overall pick C Adam Fantilli ranks fifth-T among League rookies in goals and seventh-T in assists and points with 4-6-10 in 22 appearances. At 19-years and 41 days he became the third-youngest player in franchise history at the time of his 10th career NHL point on Wednesday vs. Chicago, behind only Rick Nash (18 years, 202 days) and Cole Sillinger (18 years, 301 days).
- LW Johnny Gaudreau registered points on both CBJ goals on Sunday (1-1-2) for his second multi-point contests of the campaign. He has collected points in four of his last five games (2-3-5), including an assist in his 100th career game with the Blue Jackets (23-59-82 in 100 GP) on Wednesday. His 59 assists and 82 points are the third-most among all players through the benchmark contest with the franchise behind Artemi Panarin (32-71-103) and Ray Whitney (32-64-96).
- D Erik Gudbranson, who has posted points in two of the past three games (1-1-2), has registered 2-7-9 in 22 contests, including two multi-assist efforts in four contests from Nov. 2-12 (0-5-5). He leads the team and ranks fifth in the NHL in blocked shots this season (59) after finishing with six on Sunday.
- C Boone Jenner had his three-game goal streak (4-0-4) and four-game points streak (4-1-5) snapped on Sunday. With 11-3-14 in 22 games, he has scored at least 10 goals through his first 20 games of a season for the second time in his career (also 2021-22: 10). Just two other Blue Jackets players in the past decade have had a double-digit goal total through their first 20 games of a season: Cam Atkinson (13 in 2018-19) and Nick Foligno (10 in 2014-15).
- C Sean Kuraly, who is tied for third on the team in goals (5), has recorded 3-3-6 in the past 11 outings.
- RW Kirill Marchenko has recorded goals in two of the past three games (2-1-3) after notching CBJ’s first goal at Carolina on Sunday. He ranks second on the club in goals (6) and has totaled 6-3-9 in his past 13 appearances. With 6-6-12 in 20 contests this season, he has already set a new career high in assists after posting 21-4-24 in 59 contests during his 2022-23 rookie campaign.
- G Elvis Merzlikins stopped a season-high 40 shots in Sunday’s game at Carolina. The netminder, who has recorded six efforts of 30 or more saves this season, is 2-1-0 with a 2.35 goals-against average and .940 save percentage (110-of-117) in the last three games.
- D Ivan Provorov ranks second on the team in assists and time on ice and third in points with 1-12-13 on 23:20 TOI in 22 outings.
- F Alexandre Texier has recorded points in six of his past nine outings (4-3-7).
- LW Dmitri Voronkov has posted 3-6-9 in his first 16 NHL games to rank seventh-T among NHL rookies in assists and 10th-T in points.
- D Zach Werenski finished with four assists and a +5 rating in Wednesday’s win, setting a club record for assists by a defenseman in single game and tying the franchise mark for most points (4th time, 2nd by Werenski) and highest plus/minus rating by a blueliner (5th time). With 10 assists in 13 November games, he has tied the Blue Jackets benchmark for most assists by a defenseman in a single month, tying Seth Jones (Feb. 2021), James Wisniewski (Jan. 2014), Ryan Murray (Jan. 2014) and Ron Hainsey (Dec. 2006).
- CBJ have three rookies on the team with 19-year-olds C Adam Fantilli (2023 third overall pick) and D David Jiricek (2022 sixth round pick) as well as 23-year-old F Dmitri Voronkov (2019 fourth round pick, 114th overall).
BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES
- LW Johnny Gaudreau is six points from 700 for his NHL career (234-460-694, 704 GP).
- D Andrew Peeke is one game away from his 200th NHL game (9-26-35, 199 GP).
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
- G Daniil Tarasov (knee) is on the Injured/Non Roster List on Oct. 9 (Week-to-Week); 22 games
- F Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle) is on Injured Reserve on Nov. 13 (4-to-6 Weeks); 7 games
- D Damon Severson (oblique) injured on Nov. 19 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 3 games
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 53
COURTESY CBJ COMMUNICATIONS
