By Joe Coopersmith

Kraken to Watch

«  Former Blue Jacket, RW Oliver Bjorkstrand, who was recently named to his first NHL All-Star game, has collected assists in three of his last four games (0-4-4) and is second in the club in goals, assists and points with 11-20-31 in 41 contests this season.

«  G Joey Daccord has recorded wins in a club-record eight-straight games and ranks fourth in the NHL in SV% and fifth in GAA (min. 13 GP) with a 12-5-8 record, .925 SV% and 2.23 GAA in 26 appearances this season.

«  D Vince Dunn, who has recorded points in six of the last seven outings (4-5-9), leads the Kraken in assists and points and ranks seventh-T among NHL blueliners in points and eighth in goals (tied) and assists with 8-26-34 in 41 appearances this season.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 2-2-0 in 4 all-time games against Seattle, including 1-1-0 at home.

«  Each team has swept a season series with CBJ winning two overtime games in the first two meetings in 2021-22 and Seattle picking up two wins in 2022-23.

«  The winning team has recorded four or more goals in two of the last three meetings of the series and three-plus in each of the past three contests.

«  Neither team has recorded a shutout, hat trick or penalty shot attempt in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

«  Jan. 13, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

«  Jan. 28, 2024 – at Seattle (9 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Kraken

«  D Adam Boqvist – 1-1-2 in 2 career GP, recording a multi-point game (1-1-2) in the most recent meeting on Mar. 3, 2023.

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 2-4-6 in 6 career GP, including assists in his last two home contests against the club (0-3-3).

«  D Ivan Provorov – 1-2-3 in 3 of 4 career GP with points in each of his last three games against the Kraken.

«  C Jack Roslovic – 1-2-3 in 4 career GP, including points in two of his last three outings (1-2-3).

«  D Damon Severson – 3-0-3 in 4 career GP with goals in each of his first three contests against the team.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus has recorded points in five of the last seven (2-2-3) and 14 of the last 23 games (9-9-5) dating back to Nov. 22 following a 5-0 loss at Winnipeg on Tuesday.
• CBJ are in a stretch of four games over 16 days from Jan. 7-22, playing at Winnipeg on Jan. 9 before hosting Seattle (Jan. 13), Vancouver (Jan. 15) and New Jersey (Jan. 19) on a three-game homestand.
• The Blue Jackets have played in 19 one-goal games this season, including seven of the last 11, with another five contests as two goal finishes thanks to the addition of empty net goals (MR: Nov. 29 vs. Montreal).  The 19 one-goal games are tied for the eighth-most in the NHL.
• Columbus played past regulation six times (2-4) over an eight-game stretch from Dec. 21-Jan. 6.  The last time the club played in at least six overtimes/shootouts over an eight-game stretch was when it played six-in-seven from Mar. 11-25, 2021.  CBJ have had 13 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
• CBJ have scored 74 goals over the last 23 games to rank 12^th-T in the NHL in goals-per-game since Nov. 22 (3.22).
• The Blue Jackets have been held to less than two goals in just three of their past 16 contests since Dec. 5.
• CBJ rank fifth-T in the NHL with 93 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• Columbus ranks seventh-T in the NHL with 41 first period goals and 10^th-T with 46 second period goals.
• The club has combined for 575 blocked shots over the past 30 games since Nov. 6 and is third in the NHL in blocked shots (784) and blocks-per-60 minutes (18.38).
• Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 2-5-7 over the last three contests and for 10-50-60 over the past 26 contests.  They rank fourth among NHL defensive units in assists and eighth in points with 15-82-97 in 42 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (39.6 pct.) and ranks fourth in points percentage (29.2 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 19-34-53 in 42 games this season and ranks second among teams’ rookies in goals, assists and points.  The Blue Jackets are one of two teams in the league (Minnesota) to have two rookies with 17 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-24, Voronkov-20).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• D Jake Bean has registered points in four of his last seven outings (2-2-4).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has registered 7-5-12 with three multi-point efforts over the last 14 games.  He has tallied 9-6-15 with eight even-strength goals and four multi-point games in the past 20 outings since Nov. 27.
• F Justin Danforth has registered 3-4-7 in the last 14 games and has already set single-season career highs in assists and points with 9-9-18 in 42 outings this season.
• C Adam Fantilli has registered points in five of his last eight games (2-3-5) and seven of the past 11 contests (3-5-8).  He recorded 7-6-13 in 14 December games to set franchise records for most goals (Balastik, 6 in 2005) and points (Dubois, 12 in 2017) by a rookie in the month.  The 2023 third overall pick ranks second-T among NHL rookies in points, third in goals and sixth-T in assists with 11-13-24 in 42 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau has recorded 3-7-10 in the last 12 games and 6-13-19 with five multi-point outings in his last 25 contests after collecting 1-5-6 in the first 17 games of the season.
• D David Jiricek ranks fourth among rookie NHL blueliners in assists and fifth in points with 1-8-9 in 36 contests.
• C Kent Johnson has posted 5-5-10 with three multi-point efforts in his last 15 games overall since Dec. 7.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected 9-4-13 in his past 23 games and is tied for the team lead in goals with 13-9-22 in 40 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 club in assists, blocked shots and time on ice with 2-19-21 and 82 blocked shots, while averaging 22:59 TOI in 42 appearances this season.
• D Damon Severson has collected 2-2-4 in the last six games and 4-3-7 with two multi-point efforts over his last 11 outings.  He leads club defensemen in goals with 5-7-12 in 27 appearances this season.
• 20-year-old C Cole Sillinger notched his second career hat trick (also Mar. 13, 2022 vs. Vegas) after scoring all three of the Blue Jackets’ goals vs. Minnesota last Saturday to become the first player in franchise history to record multiple three-goal outings before his 21st birthday.  He has registered 6-2-8 with two multi-point efforts and a +6 plus/minus rating over the past ten contests.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov has posted 1-2-3 in the past six games, 2-6-8 in his last 14 outings and 4-6-10 over the last 20 contests.  He ranks sixth-T among NHL rookies in points and assists and seventh-T in goals with 7-13-20 in 36 games this season.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• RW Emil Bemstrom is one game from 200 for his NHL career (30-38-68, 199 GP).
• D Adam Boqvist is 11 games from 200 for his NHL career (22-58-80, 189 GP).
• F Justin Danforth is seven games from 100 for his NHL career (21-14-35, 93 GP).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau is one point from 100 for his CBJ career (28-71-99, 122 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is one game from 100 for his NHL career (34-13-47, 99 GP).
• C Jack Roslovic is one point from 200 for his NHL career (73-126-199, 406 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 10 assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-190-270, 450 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• C Boone Jenner (fractured jaw) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 9 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 13 games
• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 14 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 11 games
• D Nick Blankenburg (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 19 (day-to-day); 9 games
• C Sean Kuraly (abdominal injury) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 23 (Approx. 2-to-4 Weeks); 7 games
• D Zach Werenski (ankle); is on Injured Reserve on Dec. 29 (Approx. 4-to-6 Weeks); 6 games

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 160

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