By Skip Coopersmith

Canucks to Watch

«  All-Star G Thatcher Demko stopped all 26 shots faced for his fourth shutout of the season on Saturday at Buffalo and ranks second in the league in wins and shutouts (tied) and seventh-T in save percentage with a 22-8-1 record, 2.47 GAA and .919 SV% in 31 outings this season.

«  All-Star D Quinn Hughes ranks fourth in the NHL in assists while leading league blueliners in assists and points and ranking second in goals with 11-40-51 in 43 contests.

«  All-Star C J.T. Miller leads the club in scoring and ranks second in assists and power play goals while also ranking fourth-T among all NHL players in points and fifth-T in assists with 19-39-58 and seven PPG in 43 outings.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 24-31-10 in 65 all-time games against Vancouver, including 13-15-5 at home.

«  The Blue Jackets have won five of the last seven games vs. the Canucks overall since Mar. 24, 2019 and have won three-straight home games in the series dating back to Mar. 1, 2020.

«  The home team has won four consecutive games in the series and are 5-1-0 in the last six dating back to Mar. 24, 2019.

«  The winning team has recorded four or more goals in four-straight meetings and eight of the past 10 since Jan. 12, 2018.

«  Three of the last five games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

«  The teams have combined for 60-plus shots in six of the last eight games in the series since Dec. 11, 2020.

«  CBJ’s two shutouts in the all-time series were both recorded by Sergei Bobrovsky on Mar. 26, 2013 (34 saves in 1-0 SO win at Vancouver) and Mar. 24, 2019 (21 saves in 5-0 win at Vancouver).

«  The Canucks own both hat tricks in the all-time series while the Blue Jackets have been awarded three of the four penalty shot attempts.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

«  Jan. 15, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (1 p.m. ET)

«  Jan. 27, 2024 – at Vancouver (10 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Canucks

«  D Adam Boqvist – 1-2-3 in 5 career GP, including points in each of his last two games against the club (1-1-2).

«  RW Yegor Chinakhov – 0-2-2 in 2 career GP, collecting both assists in his most recent contest vs. Vancouver on Oct. 18, 2022.

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 14-31-45 with 11 multi-point efforts in 43 career GP, including assists in his last three games (2-3-5) and points in his last four (3-3-6) as well as points in 15 of his past 17 outings (7-15-22).  Has also posted goals in each of his past three home games (3-2-50 and points in his last five home appearances (3-6-9; four multi-point games).

«  RW Kirill Marchenko – notched two goals in his lone career game against Vancouver on Jan. 27, 2023 (2-0-2).

«  G Elvis Merzlikins – 3-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .930 SV% in 4 career GP and has won both of his contests played at NWA (2-0-0, 2.44 GAA, .934 SV%).

«  LW Alexandre Texier – 0-2-2 in 2 career GP, collecting both assists in his most recent contest vs. Vancouver on Dec. 14, 2021.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus began a three-game homestand with a 7-4 loss to Seattle on Saturday.  The club hosts Vancouver on Monday and New Jersey on Friday.
• has recorded points in five of the last eight (2-3-3) and 14 of the last 24 games (9-10-5) dating back to Nov. 22.
• 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).
• The Blue Jackets have played in 19 one-goal games this season, including seven of the last 12, 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 ninth-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 sixth-most in the NHL.
• CBJ have scored 78 goals over the last 24 games to rank 11^th in the NHL in goals-per-game since Nov. 22 (3.25).
• The Blue Jackets have been held to less than two goals in just three of their past 17 contests since Dec. 5.
• CBJ rank fifth-T in the NHL with 96 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the NHL with 43 first period goals and 10^th-T with 47 second period goals.
• The club has combined for 582 blocked shots over the past 31 games since Nov. 6 and is fourth in the NHL in blocked shots (791) and blocks-per-60 minutes (18.12).
• Blue Jackets blueliners, who notched 2-3-5 in Saturday’s game against Seattle, have combined for 4-8-12 over the last four contests and 12-53-65 over the past 27 contests.  They rank fourth among NHL defensive units in assists and sixth-T in points with 17-85-102 in 43 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (39.7 pct.) and ranks second in points percentage (29.7 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 19-35-54 in 43 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 18 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-25, Voronkov-20).
• The club plays its fourth (1-2-0) of five matinee games this season (3pm or earlier local time), also playing at Detroit on Nov. 11 (4-5 L), at New Jersey on Nov. 24 (2-1 W), vs. Florida on Dec. 10 (2-5 L) and vs. Nashville on Mar. 9 (12:30pm).
• CBJ are 7-2-1 in games played on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in franchise history and picked up points in seven-straight contests (6-0-1) before falling 3-1 to the NY Rangers on Jan. 16, 2023 in the most recent outing.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• D Adam Boqvist registered an assist on Saturday and has posted assists in three of his last four games played (0-4-4).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has registered 7-5-12 with three multi-point efforts over the last 15 games.  He has tallied 9-6-15 with eight even-strength goals and four multi-point games in the past 21 outings since Nov. 27.
• F Justin Danforth has registered 3-4-7 in the last 15 games and has already set single-season career highs in assists and points with 9-9-18 in 43 outings this season.
• C Adam Fantilli, who collected an assist on Saturday, has registered points in six of his last nine games (2-4-6) and eight of the past 12 contests (3-6-9).  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 among NHL rookies in points, third in goals and sixth in assists with 11-14-25 in 43 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau notched his 100^th career point as a Blue Jacket with an assist on Saturday.  He has recorded 3-8-11 in the last 13 games and 6-14-20 with five multi-point outings in his last 26 contests after collecting 1-5-6 in the first 17 games of the season.
• D David Jiricek ranks fourth-T among rookie NHL blueliners in assists and fifth in points with 1-8-9 in 36 contests.
• C Kent Johnson collected an assist on Saturday and has posted 5-6-11 with three multi-point efforts in his last 16 games overall since Dec. 7.
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his fifth multi-point effort of the season with 1-1-2 while skating in his 100^th career game on Saturday.  With 35-14-49 in 100 contests, he tied Rick Nash for the most goals through the first 100 games of an NHL career in franchise history.  Marchenko has collected 10-5-15 in his past 24 games and leads the team in goals with 14-10-24 in 41 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 Andrew Peeke collected his second career multi-assist/point game (Dec. 15, 2021 vs. SJS) with two assists on Saturday vs. Seattle.  He has registered five assists in his last seven games played dating back to Dec. 14.
• D Ivan Provorov notched his fourth career two-goal game (MR: Apr. 2, 2022 vs. TOR) after scoring CBJ’s first two goals on Saturday.  He ranks second-T on the club in assists, blocked shots and time on ice with 4-19-23 and 83 blocked shots, while averaging 22:57 TOI in 43 appearances this season.
• D Damon Severson has collected 2-2-4 in the last seven games and 4-3-7 with two multi-point efforts over his last 12 outings.  He leads club defensemen in goals with 5-7-12 in 28 appearances this season.
• 20-year-old C Cole Sillinger has registered 6-2-8 with two multi-point efforts over the past 11 contests, including his second career hat trick on Jan. 6 vs. Minnesota.  He won 10-of-15 faceoffs in Saturday’s game against the Kraken and ranks eighth-T in the NHL in faceoff percentage (min. 50 GP) since Jan. 1, winning 61.3 percent of his draws (46-of-75).
• LW Dmitri Voronkov has posted 4-6-10 over the last 21 contests.  He ranks sixth-T among NHL rookies in points, seventh-T in assists and ninth-T in goals with 7-13-20 in 37 games this season.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Adam Boqvist is 10 games from 200 for his NHL career (22-59-81, 190 GP).
• F Justin Danforth is six games from 100 for his NHL career (21-14-35, 94 GP).
• C Jack Roslovic is one point from 200 for his NHL career (73-126-199, 407 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); 14 games
• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 14 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 12 games
• D Nick Blankenburg (upper body) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 19 (day-to-day); 10 games
• C Sean Kuraly (abdominal injury); 8 games
• D Zach Werenski (ankle); is on Injured Reserve on Dec. 29 (Approx. 4-to-6 Weeks); 7 games

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 165

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS