By Joe “Big Head” Coppersmith

Oilers to Watch

«  C Leon Draisaitl ranks second on the Oilers in points with 22-28-50 in 42 appearances and has totaled 7-9-16 in 14 career outings vs. CBJ.

«  C Connor McDavid ranks fifth in the NHL in assists and ninth in points with 16-43-59 in 40 outings in 2023-24 and has totaled 8-20-28 in 14 career games against the Blue Jackets.

«  G Stuart Skinner has won 10-straight games (1.49 GAA and .947 SV%) and ranks fourth-T in the league in wins in 2023-24 with a 21-9-1 record, 2.53 GAA and .906 SV% in 32 contests.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 25-34-6 in 65 all-time meetings vs. the Oilers, including 9-21-2 on the road.

«  CBJ have won three-straight meetings in the series dating back to Apr. 24, 2022.

«  The club is 4-4-0 in its last eight contests at Edmonton since Mar. 18, 2015.

«  The winning team has recorded four or more goals in nine of the past 10 games of the series.

«  The teams have combined for 63-plus shots on goal in each of the last five meetings of the series.

«  Columbus owns two of the eight shutouts in the all-time series with Steve Mason recording the last Blue Jackets shutout with 19 saves in a 1-0 win at Edmonton on Feb. 26, 2009.

«  The Blue Jackets have notched three of the four hat tricks (MR: Tomas Vanek on Mar. 27, 2018 at Edmonton) and all three penalty shot attempts (MR: Rick Nash on Mar. 25, 2012 at Columbus).

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

«  Jan. 23, 2024 –  at Edmonton (9 p.m. ET)

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

Player Notables vs. Oilers

«  D Adam Boqvist – 1-5-6 and two multi-point efforts with points in all 4 career GP, including 1-2-3 in two outings at Rogers Place.

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 16-23-39 in 43 career GP, including assists in each of his last five games against Edmonton (1-10-11) and eight of the last nine overall (3-12-15) as well as assists in each of the last two road games (0-2-2) and points in four of his last five (1-3-4) at Rogers Place.

«  C Boone Jenner – 4-5-9 in 15 career GP, including goals in each of his last two contests against the Oilers (2-1-3).

«  C Kent Johnson – 1-2-3 in 3 career GP, collecting points in each of his past two games (1-2-3), including 1-1-2 with the OT winner in the teams’ last meeting at Rogers Place on Jan. 25, 2023.

«  RW Kirill Marchenko – 3-0-3 in 2 career GP with goals in both career outings.

«  C Jack Roslovic – 3-3-6 in 10 career GP, including 2-2-4 in his last game against the Oilers on Feb. 25, 2023.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Following Friday’s 4-1 loss to New Jersey, the club plays nine of the next 10 games on the road over a month’s span from Jan. 23-Feb. 21.  The stretch includes a five-game road trip through western Canada (Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver), Seattle and St. Louis from Jan. 23-30.
• The club has recorded points in six of the last 10 games (3-4-3) and 15 of the last 26 games (10-11-5) dating back to Nov. 22.
• CBJ are coming off a stretch of playing just four games over 16 days from Jan. 7-22.
• The Blue Jackets have played in 20 one-goal games this season, including eight of the last 15.  The 20 one-goal games are tied for the ninth-most in the NHL.
• Columbus has played past regulation seven times (3-4) over the last 12 games, including 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 14 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
• CBJ have scored 82 goals over the last 26 games to rank 14^th-T in the NHL in goals-per-game since Nov. 22 (3.15).
• The Blue Jackets have been held to less than two goals in just three of their past 19 contests since Dec. 5.
• CBJ rank eighth-T in the NHL with 99 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• Columbus ranks seventh-T in the NHL with 45 first period goals.
• The club has combined for 616 blocked shots over the past 34 games since Nov. 6 and is fourth in the NHL in  blocks-per-60 minutes (18.04) and fifth in blocked shots (825) in 2023-24.
• Blue Jackets blueliners have combined for 4-9-13 over the last six contests and 12-54-66 over the past 29 contests.  They rank fourth among NHL defensive units in assists and ninth-T in points with 17-86-103 in 45 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (39.1 pct.) and ranks second in points percentage (29.2 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 21-35-56 in 45 games this season and is tied for the league lead among teams’ rookies in goals and ranks second in points and fourth in assists.  The Blue Jackets are one of two teams in the league (Minnesota) to have two rookies with 20 or more points in 2023-24 (Fantilli-25, Voronkov-22).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• D Adam Boqvist has registered assists in two of the last three games and four of his last six games played (0-5-5).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has registered 8-6-14 with three multi-point efforts over the last 17 games.  He has also tallied 10-7-17 with nine even-strength goals and four multi-point games in the past 23 outings since Nov. 27.
• F Justin Danforth has already set single-season career highs in assists and points with 9-9-18 in 45 outings this season.
• C Adam Fantilli has registered points in six of his last 11 games (2-4-6) and eight of the past 14 contests (3-6-9).  The 2023 third overall pick ranks third among NHL rookies in goals, fourth in points and sixth-T in assists with 11-14-25 in 45 appearances this season.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau has collected assists in three-straight games (0-4-4), including picking up his team-leading seventh multi-point effort with two helpers against the Canucks on Jan. 15.  He has recorded 3-11-14 in the last 15 games and 6-17-23 with six multi-point outings in his last 28 contests after collecting 1-5-6 in the first 17 games of the season.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected 10-5-15 in his past 26 games and leads the team in goals with 14-10-24 in 43 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 blocked shots and time on ice and third in assists with 4-19-23 and 87 blocked shots, while averaging 22:49 TOI in 45 appearances this season.
• D Damon Severson leads club defensemen in goals with 5-7-12 in 30 appearances this season.
• C Cole Sillinger scored CBJ’s lone goal against New Jersey on Jan. 19 and has registered 7-2-9 with two multi-point efforts over the past 13 contests.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov notched his first career multi-goal game with two goals vs. Vancouver on Jan. 15 and has posted 6-6-12 over the last 23 contests.  He ranks fourth-T among NHL rookies in goals, sixth-T in points and eighth-T in points with 9-13-22 in 39 games this season.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Adam Boqvist is eight games from 200 for his NHL career (22-60-82, 192 GP).
• F Justin Danforth is four games from 100 for his NHL career (21-14-35, 96 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is 13 games from 700 for his NHL career (183-164-347, 687 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is 10 assists from 200 for his NHL career (80-190-270, 450 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture) is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 14 (Approx. 6 Weeks); 14 games
• D Zach Werenski (ankle); is on Injured Reserve on Dec. 29 (Approx. 4-to-6 Weeks); 9 games

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 172

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS