By Joe “Big Head” Coppersmith

Devils to Watch

«  RW Jesper Bratt, is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in assists and points with 12-21-33 in 27 contests in 2023-24 and has posted 3-4-7 in his past eight outings against the Blue Jackets.

«  C Jack Hughes, who ranks third in the NHL in points-per-game with 11-23-34 and 1.55 points-per-game in 22 outings this season, has collected 5-7-12 with three multi-point efforts in his past nine appearances.

«  D Luke Hughes ranks second-T among all NHL rookies in assists and third-T in points with 4-12-16 in 27 games this season.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 28-17-3 in 48 all-time meetings vs. the Devils, including 16-8-0 at home.

«  CBJ are 16-5-1 in the last 22 games of the series dating back to Mar. 5, 2017.

«  The Jackets had their seven-game home win streak snapped in the most recent meeting at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 14, 2023 (2-3 L).

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in four of the last six games of the series overall and seven of the past nine at Nationwide Arena.

«  Six of the last nine games in the series have been decided by a single goal, including each of the last three played in Ohio.

«  CBJ have finished 1-for-3 on the power play in each of the past three contests at Nationwide Arena.

«  The Blue Jackets own four of the seven shutouts in the all-time series with the most recent CBJ feat recorded by Elvis Merzlikins (41 saves) in a 5-0 victory at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 18, 2020.

«  Columbus owns the only hat trick in the series with Nick Foligno scoring three for the Jackets in a 6-1 win at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 25, 2016

This Season (CBJ, 1-0-0)

«  Nov. 24, 2023 –CBJ 2, at NJD 1

«  Dec. 16, 2023 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

«  Dec. 27, 2023 – at New Jersey (7 p.m. ET)

«  Jan. 19, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Devils

«  RW Yegor Chinakhov – 2-0-2 in 4 career GP, including a goal in his only career home appearance on Jan. 8, 2022.

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 7-17-24 with points in 13 of 17 career GP, including seven multi-point efforts as well as goals in each of his last four home games (6-4-10), points in his past five home outings (6-6-12) and points in seven of his eight career contests at home (6-8-14).

«  D Ivan Provorov – 4-16-20 in 32 career GP, tallying multiple assists in two of his last three home contests (0-4-4).

«  D Zach Werenski – 3-4-7 in 19 career GP, including points in three of his past four home games vs. the club (1-2-3).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets improved to 6-5-1 in the last 12 games overall following a 6-5 overtime win at Toronto on Thursday.
• Columbus is 4-2-1 in the past seven games played at Nationwide Arena.  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 played 30 games in the first 60 days of the season.  Following Sunday’s game against the Panthers, the club plays just eight times over the final 21 days of the month of December.
• The Blue Jackets have scored the first goal of the game in nine of the last 12 and 11 of the past 15 games this season.
• CBJ have played 13 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).
• CBJ killed off 1-of-2 Florida power play chances on Thursday and have denied their opponents a power play goal in 17 of the last 24 games, killing off 54-of-62 opponent power play chances since Oct. 28 (87.1 pct.).
• The Blue Jackets rank seventh in the NHL in penalty kill percentage this season at 85.1 pct. (74-of-87) and rank third-T in the league in penalty kill percentage since Oct. 20 (86.8 pct.), killing off 66-of-76 opponent power play chances over the last 28 games.
• CBJ scored a power play goal on Thursday and are now 5-for-14 on the man advantage over the last seven games (35.7 pct.) to rank fourth in the NHL in power play percentage since Dec. 1.
• Columbus scored three of its six goals during 5-on-5 play on Thursday and is now fourth in the NHL with 67 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• The Blue Jackets scored two first period goals on Thursday and rank fourth-T in the NHL with 34 first period goals and sixth in first period goal differential (+9).
• Columbus set a franchise record with 38 blocked shots in Thursday’s overtime victory at Toronto.  The club has combined for 387 blocked shots over the past 20 games since Nov. 6 and lead the NHL in blocked shots (596) and rank third in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (19.02).
• Blue Jackets blueliners registered seven assists in Thursday’s win and have combined for 5-31-36 over the past 15 contests.  They rank third among NHL defensive units in assists and fifth in points with 10-63-73 in 31 games this season.  The club also leads the League in assists percentage (41.4 pct.) and ranks third in points percentage (29.8 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 15-23-38 in 31 games this season and leads the league among teams’ rookies in goals (tied) and ranks second in points and third in assists.  Columbus is the only team in the league to have two rookies with 15 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-16, Voronkov-15).
• The Blue Jackets play their seventh of 21 Saturday games this season when they host the Devils.  The game will be the first of five-straight Saturday contests for the club through January 13 with four played at Nationwide Arena.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Emil Bemstrom has recorded 1-2-3 in his past four outings.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov notched a goal for a career-high third-straight game (4-2-6) with his second multi-point effort in the last three outings with 1-1-2 on Thursday.  He has tallied 6-3-9 in the past nine outings.
• F Justin Danforth tallied his second multi-point effort of the campaign/his career with 1-1-2 on Thursday.  He has registered 1-2-3 in the past three games and has set single-season career highs in assists and points (tied) with 7-7-14 in 31 outings this season.
• C Adam Fantilli has posted 3-2-5 over the past five games, including his first career two-goal/three-point game with 2-1-3 on Dec. 7 at the NY Islanders.  The 2023 third overall pick, who has registered points in four of the last seven games (4-2-6), ranks third-T among NHL rookies in goals and points with 8-8-16 in 31 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau moved within one point of 700 for his NHL career (236-463-699) with a power play goal on Thursday.  He has registered 4-6-10 with three multi-point outings in his last 14 contests.
• D David Jiricek collected his first career multi-point outing with two assists on Thursday and now ranks fourth-T among rookie NHL blueliners in assists and points with 1-6-7 in 26 contests.
• C Kent Johnson posted his first career two-goal/three-point game, including the OT winner, on Thursday at Toronto.  He has totaled 2-4-6 with two multi-point efforts in the past four contests.
• F Patrik Laine notched a goal before suffering a clavicle fracture in the second period on Thursday (sidelined six weeks) and has recorded points in five of his last six games played (3-2-5).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected 1-2-3 in the last three contests and 5-3-8 in his past 12 games.  He ranks second on the club in goals and third-T in points with 9-8-17 in 29 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.
• D Ivan Provorov collected his second multi-assist game of the season with two assists on Thursday.  He ranks second on the team in assists and time-on-ice and third-T in points with 2-15-17 and 23:02 TOI in 31 contests.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov has registered points in two of his last three games (1-2-3), including his first career multi-point game with two assists last Friday.  He has recorded 3-3-6 in the last nine games and ranks fifth-T among NHL rookies in goals and points and seventh-T in assists with 6-9-15 in 25 games this season.
• D Zach Werenski registered his fourth multi-point effort of the season with two assists on Thursday and has collected assists in six of his last eight games (0-8-8).  He leads the club in assists, points and time on ice with 1-22-23 and 24:23 TOI in 29 contests this season.  He ranks sixth-T among league blueliners in assists and second among all NHL skaters in even-strength assists (18), trailing only Vancouver’s Filip Hronek (19).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Johnny Gaudreau is one point from 700 for his NHL career (236-463-699, 713 GP) and 10 points from 100 for his Blue Jackets career (26-64-90, 111 GP).
• G Spencer Martin is one game from 50 for his NHL career (16-24-6, 49 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 12 assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-188-268, 445 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle) is on Injured Reserve on Nov. 13 (4-to-6 Weeks); 16 games
• D Damon Severson (oblique) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 19 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 12 games
• D Adam Boqvist (shoulder strain) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 5 (Approx. 4 Weeks); 4 games
• C Boone Jenner (fractured jaw) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 9 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 3 games
• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture) (Approx. 6 Weeks)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 98

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS