Panthers to Watch

«  C Aleksander Barkov ranks second on the club in assists and points and third in goals with 9-16-25 in 23 games and has totaled 12-16-28 in 31 career outings against the Blue Jackets.

«  Former Blue Jacket G Sergei Bobrovsky has posted a 13-6-1 record with a 2.42 GAA and .913 SV% in 20 appearances this season, ranking second in the NHL in wins.

«  C Sam Reinhart ranks second-T in the league in goals and 10^th-T in points with 17-16-33 in 26 games this season.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 26-17-5 in 48 all-time meetings vs. the Panthers, including 16-5-3 at home.

«  Florida’s 6-5 overtime win in the first meeting of the season was the first win by a single goal by either team in the last 11 meetings of the series dating back to Apr. 3, 2021.

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in nine-straight meetings and 12 of the past 13 games overall dating back to Mar. 9, 2021.

«  The teams have combined for 70 or more shots in five of the last seven games of the series.

«  CBJ have killed off 27-of-31 Florida power play chances over the past 11 games of the series since Apr. 3, 2021 (87.1 pct.).

«  The Panthers own six of the nine shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins earning CBJ’s most recent shutout with 32 saves in a 1-0 OT win at Columbus on Feb. 4, 2020.

«  Blueliners have registered both CBJ hat tricks in the series with Deron Quint scoring three in a 7-6 OTW at Florida on Mar. 9, 2001 and Zach Werenski notching his first career trick in a 4-1 win at Columbus on Dec. 31, 2019.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-1)

«  Nov. 6, 2023 – at FLA 5, CBJ 4 (OT)

«  Dec. 10, 2023 – at Columbus (1 p.m. ET)

«  Apr. 11, 2024 – at Florida (7:30 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Panthers

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 6-11-17 in 18 career GP, recording 1-6-7 with two multi-point outings in his last three home contests vs. the Panthers.

«  F Patrik Laine – 11-9-20 in 17 career GP, posting goals and multiple points in each of his last two home contests (3-1-4) as well as points in five of his six career home outings (5-3-8).

«  D Ivan Provorov – 2-4-6 in 19 career GP, notching 1-3-4 in his past six outings against the club.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets improved to 5-4-1 in the last 10 games overall and 4-1-1 in the past six at Nationwide Arena following a 5-2 victory over the Blues on Friday.
• The Blue Jackets scored the first goal of the game on Friday, marking the eighth time in the last 10 games and 11^th time over the past 15 the club has scored first.
• CBJ have played 12 one-goal games this season with another five contests as two goal finishes thanks to the addition of empty net goals (MR: Nov. 29 vs. Montreal).
• Columbus closes out a stretch of nine games in 15 days, including three-games in four days, on Sunday vs. the Panthers.
• The team is currently in a stretch of nine-of-13 games played at home from Nov. 27-Dec. 23.  The four road games are all one-game trips (Dec. 3 at Boston, Dec. 7 at NY Islanders, Dec. 14 at Toronto and Dec. 19 at Buffalo).
• CBJ killed off all three Blues power play opportunities on Friday and have now denied their opponents a power play goal in 17 of the last 22 games, killing off 52-of-58 opponent power play chances since Oct. 28 (89.7 pct.).
• The Blue Jackets rank fifth in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season at 86.7 pct. (72-of-83) and lead the league in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20 (88.9 pct.), killing off 64-of-72 opponent power play chances over the last 26 games.
• The Blue Jackets scored a power play goal on Friday and are now 5-for-16 on the man advantage over the last seven games (31.3 pct.).
• Columbus scored three 5-on-5 goals on both Thursday and Friday and are tied with Vancouver for the NHL lead with 63 goals scored at even-strength.
• The Blue Jackets rank fifth in the NHL with 31 first period goals and seventh in first period goal differential (+8).
• Columbus has combined for 328 blocked shots over the past 18 games since Nov. 6 and lead the NHL in blocked shots (538) and rank fourth in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.37).
• Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 5-22-27 over the past 13 contests.  They rank fourth among NHL defensive units in assists and sixth-T in points with 10-54-64 in 29 games this season.  The club also leads the League in assists percentage (39.1 pct.) and ranks sixth in points percentage (28.7 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class have combined for 14-21-35 in 29 games this season and are tied for the league lead among teams’ rookies in goals and ranks second in points and third in assists.  Columbus is one of two teams (Anaheim) to have two rookies with 13 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-16, Voronkov-14).
• The Blue Jackets play their fifth of nine Sunday games this season when they host the Panthers.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Emil Bemstrom has collected assists in two-straight games (1-2-3), including notching his second multi-point effort of the season and 11^th of his career with 1-1-2 on Thursday at the Islanders.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov notched his second career two-goal game and first career three-point effort with 2-1-3 on Friday against the Blues.  He has tallied 4-2-6 in the past seven outings.
• C Adam Fantilli has posted goals in two-straight (3-1-4) and points in three consecutive (3-2-5).  He tallied his first career two-goal/three-point game with 2-1-3 against the Islanders before following up with his eighth goal of the season on Friday vs. the Blues.  The 2023 third overall pick, who has registered points in four of the last five games (4-2-6), ranks second among NHL rookies in goals (tied) and points with 8-8-16 in 29 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau has registered 3-6-9 with three multi-point outings in his last 12 contests.
• G Jet Greaves stopped 41-of-43 shots faced for his first career NHL win on Friday.  The 41 saves vs. the Blues are the most by a goaltender in club history in his first career win.  After stopping 46 saves in his first career game at Toronto on Apr. 4, 2023 last season, he is the first goaltender in NHL history to record 40-plus saves in each of his first two NHL games while his 87 saves are the most through his first two games, surpassing Ken Wregget (86) for the most on record (since 1955-56) through a goaltender’s 1st 2 career contests.
• D Erik Gudbranson, who has missed the past three games due to illness, leads the team in blocked shots this season (64).
• C Boone Jenner has registered points in seven of his last 12 contests (6-3-9).  He leads the club in goals and even-strength goals and ranks second in points, while ranking third-T in the NHL in game-opening goals and eighth-T in even-strength goals with 13-5-18 and four game-opening goals in 29 contests.
• F Patrik Laine, who has missed the last three contests due to illness, has recorded points in three of his last four games played (2-1-3).
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his third multi-point effort of the season with 1-1-2 on Friday and has recorded 5-2-7 in his past 10 games.  He ranks second on the club in goals and has totaled 9-4-13 in his past 20 appearances.  With 9-7-16 in 27 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, who turned aside 30 or more shots for the eighth time this season with 35 saves on Tuesday, is 3-2-1 with a 2.68 GAA and .930 SV% in his past six games dating back to Nov. 22.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov collected his first career multi-point game with two assists on Friday and has registered points in four of his last seven games (2-3-5). He ranks fifth-T among NHL rookies in points and seventh in assists with 5-9-14 in 23 games this season.
• D Zach Werenski, has collected assists in four of his last six games (0-5-5).  He leads the club in assists, points and time on ice with 1-19-20 and 24:04 TOI in 27 contests this season.  He ranks sixth among league blueliners in assists and second-T among all NHL skaters in even-strength assists (16), trailing only Vancouver’s Filip Hronek (17).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Johnny Gaudreau is two points from 700 for his NHL career (235-463-698, 711 GP) and 11 points from 100 for his Blue Jackets career (25-64-89, 109 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is 14 games from 700 for his NHL career (183-164-347, 686 GP).
• G Spencer Martin is one game from 50 for his NHL career (16-24-6, 49 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 15 assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-185-265, 443 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• G Daniil Tarasov (knee) is on Long-Term Injured Reserve retroactive to Oct. 12 (Week-to-Week); 29 games
• F Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle) is on Injured Reserve on Nov. 13 (4-to-6 Weeks); 14 games
• D Damon Severson (oblique) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 19 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 10 games
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 26 (Day-to-Day); 5 games
• D Erik Gudbranson (illness) (Day-to-Day); 3 games
• F Patrik Laine (illness) (Day-to-Day); 3 games
• G Elvis Merzlikins (illness) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 5 (1 Week); 2 games
• D Adam Boqvist (shoulder strain) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 5 (Approx. 4 Weeks); 2 games
• C Boone Jenner (fractured jaw) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 8 (Approx. 6 Weeks)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 89

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