By Skip Coopersmith

Maple Leafs to Watch

«  RW Mitchell Marner ranks second on Toronto in assists and third in points with 13-21-34 in 30 outings in 2023-24 and has collected 7-15-22 in 17 career appearances against CBJ.

«  C Auston Matthews, who has notched goals in each of his last six games played (missed Dec. 16 contest due to illness) with 10-3-13, leads the NHL in goals with 26-12-38 in 29 appearances this season.

«  RW William Nylander leads the club in assists and points with 15-27-42 and points in 27 of 30 appearances this season, including points in 10-straight (3-12-15).

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 18-18-1 in 37 all-time meetings vs. the Maple Leafs, including 7-10-0 at home.

«  Toronto has won four of the last five games at Nationwide Arena since Dec. 28, 2018 after CBJ went 5-3-0 at home from Oct. 25, 2013-Nov. 23, 2018.

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in 12 of the past 13 meetings dating back to Feb. 14, 2018 with the lone exception a 3-0 Maple Leafs victory on Feb. 10, 2023.

«  The road team is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings of the series.

«  Six of the last eight games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

«  CBJ have scored a power play goal in three of their last four home games against the Leafs (3-for-13; 23.1 pct.).

«  The Blue Jackets own two of the three shutouts in the all-time series with the most recent CBJ feat recorded by Sergei Bobrovsky (35 saves) in a 5-0 victory at Nationwide Arena on Apr. 8, 2015.

«  Both teams have registered a hat trick in the series with Tyler Wright scoring three for the Jackets in a 4-3 OTW at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 27, 2002.

This Season (CBJ, 1-0-0)

«  Dec. 14, 2023 – CBJ 6, at TOR 5 (OT)

«  Dec. 23, 2023 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

«  Dec. 29, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Maple Leafs

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 7-10-17 in 25 career GP, recording 2-4-6 in his past seven outings vs. the Maple Leafs overall.

«  LW Kent Johnson – 3-3-6 in 4 career GP, registering all of his points over a current three-game assists streak.

«  D Zach Werenski – 0-12-12 in 13 career GP, including assists in each of his last five games against the club overall (0-7-7) as well as assists in each of his last two home contests (0-3-3) and five of seven career home games (0-7-7).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets have recorded points two-straight (1-0-1) and nine of the last 15 games (7-6-2) following a 3-2 overtime loss to Washington on Thursday.
• The club has recorded 20 goals over the last four games – including a season-high nine goals on Dec. 19 at Buffalo – and have tied for the third-most over a four-game stretch (fourth time), trailing only 24 goals (Feb. 17-24, 2022) and 21 goals (Mar. 27-Apr. 3, 2018).
• Columbus saw 14 of its 18 skaters record a point in Tuesday’s win at Buffalo, including a single-game franchise best 10 record multiple point outings.
• The team, which is 4-3-2 in its last nine home games, finishes it’s pre-Christmas break slate on Saturday vs. Toronto.  It also closes out a stretch of nine-of-13 games played at home from Nov. 27-Dec. 23.
• CBJ opened the season with 30 games in the first 60 days.  Following the game against the Panthers on Dec. 10, 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 15 and 11 of the past 18 games this season.
• CBJ have played 14 one-goal games this season, including two of the last three, with another five contests as two goal finishes thanks to the addition of empty net goals (MR: Nov. 29 vs. Montreal).
• CBJ had their three-game power play goal streak (3-for-8; 37.5 pct.) snapped after failing on their lone attempt against Washington on Thursday.  They rank sixth-T in the NHL in PP pct. since Nov. 22 (27.3 pct.; 9-for-33 in last 15 GP) and second in PP pct. since Dec. 1 (33.3 pct.; 7-for-21 in last 10 games), trailing only the NY Rangers (35.5 pct.).
• Columbus scored eight goals at even strength on Tuesday and both goals on Thursday and now ranks second in the NHL with 78 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season, trailing only Vancouver (84).
• The Blue Jackets rank fourth in the NHL with 37 first period goals and seventh-T in first period goal differential (+8).
• The club has combined for 439 blocked shots over the past 23 games since Nov. 6 and leads the NHL in blocked shots (648) and ranks third in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.83).
• Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 6-39-45 over the past 18 contests.  They rank second-T among NHL defensive units in assists and fourth-T in points with 11-71-82 in 34 games this season.  The club also leads the League in assists percentage (39.9 pct.) and ranks sixth in points percentage (28.8 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 16-28-44 in 34 games this season and is tied for the league lead among teams’ rookies in goals and ranks second in points and third in assists.  The Blue Jackets are the only team in the league to have two rookies with 17 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-19, Voronkov-17).
• The Blue Jackets play their eighth of 21 Saturday games this season when they host the Maple Leafs.
• Columbus has won five of its last six contests played on December 23, including its past two played at home (last 2-1 SO win over PHI in 2017).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov has recorded points in a career-best six-straight games (6-4-10; 3 multi-point efforts) following a goal on Thursday.  The stretch includes goals in a career-high four consecutive outings from Dec. 8-16.  He has tallied 8-5-13 with four multi-point games in the past 12 outings.
• F Justin Danforth has already set single-season career highs in assists and points (tied) with 7-7-14 in 34 outings this season.
• C Adam Fantilli recorded his third career multi-point contest with 1-1-2 on Tuesday and has now posted 4-4-8 with two multi-point outings over the past eight contests.  The 2023 third overall pick ranks third among NHL rookies in goals and points and eighth-T in assists with 9-10-19 in 34 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau stretched his points streak to four-straight games (2-4-6) with an assist on Thursday.  He has registered 5-10-15 with four multi-point outings in his last 17 contests, including his first three-point effort of the season with 1-2-3 on Tuesday at Buffalo.
• D David Jiricek has collected assists in two of his last three games played (0-3-3), including his first career multi-point outing with two assists on Dec. 14 at Toronto.  He ranks fourth among rookie NHL blueliners in assists and points (tied) with 1-7-8 in 28 contests.
• C Kent Johnson has posted multiple points in two of his last four games, recording his first career two-goal/three-point game on Dec. 14 at Toronto and 1-1-2 on Dec. 19 at Buffalo.  He has totaled 3-5-8 with three multi-point efforts in the past seven contests.
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his second career hat trick – and first natural hat trick – on Tuesday at Buffalo and has now  collected 5-2-7 in the last six contests and 9-3-12 in his past 15 games.  He is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in points with 13-8-21 in 32 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 ranks second on the team in assists and time-on-ice with 2-17-19 and 23:01 TOI in 34 contests.
• F Alexandre Texier collected his second multi-point outing of the season with two assists on Tuesday and has registered points in two of his last three games (1-2-3) and has 2-2-4 over the last six contests.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov has registered points in four of his last six games (1-4-5) after collecting an assist on Thursday.  He has recorded 3-5-8 in the last 12 games and ranks fourth-T among NHL rookies in points and eighth in goals and assists (assists) with 6-11-17 in 28 games this season.
• D Zach Werenski has registered multiple assists in two of the last four games (0-4-4) and has recorded assists in seven of his last 11 games (0-10-10).  He leads the club in assists, points and time on ice with 1-24-25 and 24:23 TOI in 32 contests this season.  He ranks sixth-T among league blueliners in assists and second among all NHL skaters in even-strength assists (19), trailing only Vancouver’s Filip Hronek (20).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Johnny Gaudreau is five points from 100 for his Blue Jackets career (27-68-95, 114 GP).
• G Spencer Martin is one game from 50 for his NHL career (16-24-6, 49 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 10 assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-190-270, 448 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Jack Roslovic (fractured ankle) is on Injured Reserve on Nov. 13 (4-to-6 Weeks); 19 games
• D Damon Severson (oblique) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 19 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 15 games
• D Adam Boqvist (shoulder strain) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 5 (Approx. 4 Weeks); 7 games
• C Boone Jenner (fractured jaw) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 9 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 6 games
• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture) (Approx. 6 Weeks); 3 games
• D Nick Blankenburg (upper body); 1 game

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 113

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS