By Carey Van Lue

Bruins to Watch

«  D Charlie McAvoy leads club blueliners with 3-12-15 in 18 appearances and has picked up 1-10-11 in 13 career games against the Blue Jackets

«  RW David Pastrnak ranks fourth-T in the League in points and eighth-T in goals with 13-20-33 in 22 contests and has totaled 8-12-20 in 20 career outings against CBJ.

«  G Jeremy Swayman (8-1-2, 2.17 GAA, .930 SV%) and G Linus Ullmark (7-3-1, 2.64 GAA, .917 SV%) have combined to allow 2.50 goals-against/game, ranking fifth-best in the NHL.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 15-14-10 in 39 all-time games against Boston, including 6-7-5 on the road.

«  CBJ snapped a six-game losing streak in the series (0-3-3) with the 5-2 win this past Monday at Nationwide Arena.  The club has registered points in two-straight contests overall (1-0-1).

«  Seven of the last 15 games in the series have been decided after regulation (five in overtime).

«  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, 1-0-0)

«  Nov. 27, 2023 – at CBJ 5, BOS 2

«  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 17 career GP with points in 12 of his contests as well as points in six of his eight career games at TD Garden (4-4-8).

«  C Boone Jenner – 8-4-12 in 22 career GP, including two assists in the meeting on November 27^th.

«  F Patrik Laine – 3-9-12 in 14 career GP, including 2-8-10 with three multi-point efforts in his last nine contests against the club.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets improved to 4-2-0 in the last six games overall following a 4-2 victory over the Senators on Friday.
• CBJ have played 11 one-goal games this season, including in eight of the last 15.  Another five contests have been two goal finishes thanks to the addition of empty net goals (MR: Nov. 29 vs. Montreal).
• The Blue Jackets failed to score the first goal of the game for the first time in six contests by allowing the first two goals to Ottawa on Friday.  The club has now scored the first goal in eight of the past 11 outings.
• Last Sunday’s game at Carolina kicked off a stretch of nine games – with six played at home – in 15 days through Dec. 10.
• Columbus closes out a stretch of four-straight games against Atlantic Division opponents (2-1-0) on Sunday at Boston.
• The club plays a team from each division over a span of six days this week, also facing off against Los Angeles (Pacific) on Tuesday, at the NY Islanders (Metropolitan) on Thursday and vs. St. Louis (Central) on Friday.
• The team allowed a power play goal for the first time in six contests (14-of-15; 93.3 pct.). after finishing 4-of-5 against Ottawa on Friday.  Columbus has now allowed power play goals in just three of the past 18 games (Nov. 16. vs. ARI, Nov. 19. vs. PHI and Dec. 1 vs. OTT), killing off 42-of-45 opponent power play chances (93.3 pct.).
• CBJ rank third in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season at 88.6 pct. (62-of-70) and lead the League in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20 (91.5 pct.), killing off 54-of-59 opponent power play chances over the last 22 games.
• CBJ scored on both power play attempts on Friday, marking the 10th time in franchise history that the club finished 100 pct. on the power play in a game with multiple attempts (all 2-for-2; MR: Nov. 20, 2022 vs. Florida).  The club is 3-of-8 on the man advantage over the last three contests (37.5 pct.).
• Columbus (25 GP) is tied with Vancouver (24 GP) for the NHL lead with 54 goals scored at five-on-five play this season.
• The Blue Jackets scored two first period goals on Friday and rank second-T in the NHL with 28 first period goals and fifth in first period goal differential (+7).
• Columbus has combined for 265 blocked shots over the past 14 games since Nov. 6 and ranks second in the NHL in blocked shots (474) and third in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.76).
• Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 5-18-23 over the past nine contests after collecting three assists on Friday.  They rank third among NHL defensive units in assists and fourth in points with 10-50-60 in 25 games this season.  The club also leads the League in assists percentage (41.7 pct.) and points percentage (31.1 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has posted two of the team’s goals on Friday and have combined for 11-16-27 in 25 games this season to rank second-T among teams’ rookies in goals and third in assists and points.  Columbus is one of two teams in the NHL (Anaheim) to have two rookies with 10 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-11 & Voronkov-12).
• The Blue Jackets play their fourth of nine Sunday games (six on the road) this season at Boston.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov has notched goals in two of his last three games (2-1-3) and has totaled 2-2-4 in the last six contests.
• 2023 third overall pick C Adam Fantilli notched his fifth goal of the season on Friday and now ranks fifth-T among League rookies in goals and eighth-T in points with 5-6-11 in 25 appearances.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau recorded his second multi-assist and third multi-point outing of the season with two assists on Friday.  He has collected points in five of his last eight games with 2-5-7.
• D Erik Gudbranson leads the team and ranks fifth in the NHL in blocked shots this season (62).
• C Boone Jenner notched his team-leading 12^th goal of the season on Friday.  He has registered points in six of his last eight games (5-3-8) and has totaled 12-5-17 in 25 outings.  CBJ’s captain is seventh-T in the NHL in even strength goals (9) and 11^th-T in goals overall.
• C Sean Kuraly, who leads the club in hits (52), has recorded 3-4-7 in the past 14 outings.
• F Patrik Laine has scored in each of the last two games and has collected points in three-straight (2-1-3).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has recorded goals in three of the past six games (3-1-4).  He ranks second on the club in goals (7) and has totaled 7-3-10 in his past 16 appearances.  With 7-6-13 in 23 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 turned aside a season-high 41 shots in a 4-2 victory over Ottawa on Friday.  He is 3-2-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .937 SV% in his past five games dating back to November 22.
• D Ivan Provorov collected an assist on Friday and has recorded 1-1-2 in the last three games.  He ranks second on the team in assists and time on ice and third in points with 2-13-15 on 23:05 TOI in 25 contests.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov has registered points in three-straight games (2-1-3) after notching a goal on Friday. He ranks fifth-T among NHL rookies in goals and points and sixth-T in assists with 5-7-12 in 19 games this season.  He also ranks second-T among League rookies in goals, assists and points since Nov. 1 with 4-6-10 in 16 contests.
• D Zach Werenski picked up his second multi-assist and third multi-point effort of the campaign with two assists on Friday.  He leads the club in assists, points and time on ice with 1-17-18 and 23:29 TOI in 23 contests this season.  He ranks fifth-T among League blueliners in assists and third-T among all NHL skaters in assists recorded at even strength (14), trailing only Jake Guentzel and Filip Hronek (15 each).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Johnny Gaudreau is four points from 700 for his NHL career (234-462-696, 707 GP).
• F Kent Johnson is three games from 100 for his NHL career (17-29-46, 97 GP).
• D Andrew Peeke is one game away from his 200^th 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); 25 games
• F Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle) is on Injured Reserve on Nov. 13 (4-to-6 Weeks); 10 games
• D Damon Severson (oblique) injured on Nov. 19 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 6 games
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body) (Day-to-Day); 1 game

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 63

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS