By Joe Coopersmith

Jets to Watch

«  G Connor Hellebuyck has posted a 30-15-3 record with a 2.33 GAA, .921 SV% and four shutouts in 48 outings this season to lead NHL goaltenders in SV% and GAA (min. 22 GP) and ranks fourth-T in wins.

«  D Josh Morrissey ranks seventh among all NHL defensemen in assists and points and leads the club in assists and ranks second in points with 8-48-56 in 66 contests.

«  C Mark Scheifele leads the Jets in points and ranks second in assists with 19-39-58 in 59 games and has totaled 4-8-12 in 19 career contests against CBJ.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 17-15-1 in 33 all-time games against the Winnipeg franchise (incl. Atlanta), including 9-7-0 at home.

«  The Blue Jackets had their five-game points streak dating back to Mar. 25, 2022 (4-0-1) snapped in the teams’ most recent meeting on Jan. 9 (5-0 WPG win).

«  CBJ have won three-straight home games against the Jets, outscoring Winnipeg 10-4 over that span.  The team has also recorded wins in four of the past five contests played at Nationwide Arena.

«  The team has recorded a power play goal in seven of the last nine games against the Jets dating back to Jan. 31, 2019 (10-of-29; 34.5 pct.).  The stretch includes power play goals in each of the last four games played at Nationwide Arena (4-of-13; 30.8 pct.).

«  CBJ own five of the seven shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins earning the most recent CBJ one after stopping all 36 saves in a 3-0 win at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 24, 2021.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

«  Jan. 9, 2024 – at WPG 5, CBJ 0

«  Mar. 17, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (6 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Jets

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 11-20-31 in 30 career GP, including assists in six of his last nine contests against the club overall (0-9-9) as well as assists in his last three home games (0-4-4) and five of his last six home outings (0-5-5).

«  C Boone Jenner – 5-3-8 in 14 career GP, including points in his last two appearances vs. Winnipeg (1-1-2).

«  G Elvis Merzlikins – 2-1-1 with 2.79 GAA and .915 SV% in 4 career GP, winning both of his home games (1.51 GAA, .955 SV%, 1 SO).

«  W Alex Nylander – 2-2-4 in 3 career GP, recording 1-1-2 in two of his three outings against the Jets, including his only career home game on Jan. 19, 2020.

«  D Zach Werenski – 2-6-8 in 9 career GP, picking up points in each of his last five games against the team (1-4-5) as well as his last three home outings (1-2-3).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus picked up points for the second-straight game (1-0-1) and improved to 4-3-1 in its last eight games and 7-7-1 in the past 15 since Feb. 17 after defeating San Jose 4-2 on Saturday.
• The club closes out a stretch of four games (1-1-1) in six days on Sunday against the Jets.  It’s the second-straight week of four games over a six-day period for the club (2-2-0 last week).
• The club, which is 3-1-1 in its last five home contests, also closes out a stretch of nine-of-13 games played at Nationwide Arena from Feb. 23-Mar. 17.  It included a three-game homestand over four days from Mar. 14-17.  CBJ will hit the road for a five-game road trip from Mar. 19-28 on Monday.
• CBJ conclude their 11th of 13 back-to-back sets this season when they host Winnipeg on Sunday after earning the victory over San Jose Saturday at Nationwide Arena.  It’s the only home-home back-to-back set of the campaign for the club.  The Blue Jackets are 8-10-3 in back-to-backs this season (4-6-1 in 1st game; 4-4-2 in 2nd game).
• The Blue Jackets rank 15th in the NHL in goals-per-game during the month of March, averaging 3.13 goals over the past eight contests (25 goals total).
• CBJ killed off all three Sharks power play chances on Saturday and have allowed just one power play goal over the last four contests (11-of-12; 91.7 pct.).  The team ranks fourth-T in the league in penalty kill percentage since Feb. 21 (86.1 pct.), having killed off 31 of the past 36 opponent power play opportunities over the past 13 games.
• Columbus, which has posted 98 shots on goal over the past three games, has recorded 560 shots on goal over the last 17 contests and ranks eighth in the NHL in shots-on-goal per game since returning from the NHL break on Feb. 10 (33.0).
• CBJ have had 16 of their games decided after regulation this season following Thursday’s shootout loss to the Senators.  It’s tied for the seventh-most in the league.
• The Blue Jackets scored three even strength goals on Saturday and rank ninth in the NHL with 145 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• Columbus also ranks seventh-T in the league with 65 first period goals after scoring once in the first period against San Jose.
• CBJ rank seventh in the league in blocks-per-60 minutes (17.13) and blocked shots (1,163) in 2023-24.
• Blue Jackets blueliners collected two assists on Saturday and have combined for 13-45-58 in the last 29 contests since Jan. 1 as well as 21-90-111 over the past 52 games.  They rank sixth-T among NHL defensive units in assists and 12th in points with 26-121-147 in 67 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (37.8 pct.) and ranks second in points percentage (28.5 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 30-37-67 in 67 games this season to lead the league among teams’ rookies in goals and rank third-T in points and fifth in assists.  The Blue Jackets are one of two teams in the league (Minnesota) to have two rookies with 26 or more points in 2023-24 (Dmitri Voronkov-31, Adam Fantilli-27).
• Blue Jackets netminders have combined to stop 386-of-416 shots faced (.929 SV%) over the last 12 games since Feb. 23.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has missed the last two games with an upper body injury, has collected 5-5-10 in his last 18 contests played.  He has also registered 6-6-12 with three multi-point efforts in his last 21 games and has totaled 13-11-24 over his last 36 contests.
• C Adam Fantilli, who suffered a calf laceration on Jan. 28 and is expected to miss eight weeks, ranks seventh-T among NHL rookies in goals, ninth-T in assists and 10th-T in points with 12-15-27 in 49 outings despite missing the last 18 games due to the injury.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau registered his fifth three point outing and 13^th multi-point effort of the season with 1-2-3 while collecting multiple primary assists for the second-straight game (1-4-5).  He has registered points in 13 of his last 20 games (4-17-21) and has recorded the primary assist on 13 of his last 14 assists overall dating back to Feb. 10.  The winger, who leads the club in assists, points, multi-assists and multi-point outings with 11-39-50, 11 multi-assist and 13 multi-point efforts in 67 contests.  He has also recorded 10-34-44 with 12 multi-point outings in his last 50 contests after collecting 1-5-6 in the first 17 games of the season.  In his second season with the club, he already ranks eighth all-time in multi-assist outings (25) and is one games shy of tying Artemi Panarin for seventh.
• D Erik Gudbranson has set single-season career highs in assists, points and blocked shots with 4-15-19 and 139 blocked shots in 63 appearances.
• C Boone Jenner scored for a second-straight game (2-1-3) after notching his seventh multi-point effort with 1-1-2 on Saturday and has posted 8-6-14 in the last 17 games.  The franchise’s all-time leader in games played, skated in his 700^th career game at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 28.  He also ranks third on the franchise’s all-time lists in goals and points with 191-170-361 in 709 contests.  The CBJ captain, who skated in his first NHL All-Star Game in his 11^th NHL season on Feb. 3, leads the club in goals with 21-11-32 in 52 outings and became the fourth player to record four 20-goal seasons on Thursday, including in each of his past three campaigns.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has registered 2-5-7 in the last 15 contests.  He has recorded 17-15-32 in 63 appearances this season and has already set single-season career highs in assists and points after posting 21-4-25 in 59 games during his 2022-23 rookie campaign.
• LW Alex Nylander notched his second career three-point outing with both coming in the last seven games after tallying 2-1-3 against San Jose on Saturday.  He has recorded 8-3-11 in his first 11 games with the club, becoming the first player in franchise history and the first player in the NHL since Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson (10 G in 11 GP in 2018-19) to record at least eight goals in his first 11 games with the team.
• D Ivan Provorov registered an assist for the second time in four games (0-2-2) on Saturday and has tied his single-season career high in assists with 24 (also 2016-17 and 2018-19 with Philadelphia).  He ranks second on the club in blocked shots and time on ice and third in assists with 5-24-29 and 123 blocked shots, while averaging 22:13 TOI in 67 appearances this season.
• C Cole Sillinger has recorded points in five of the last 10 outings (3-2-5) and has also posted 3-4-7 in the last 14 contests.  With 11-14-25 in 62 games this season, he is one assist from tying his single-season career high set in his rookie campaign in 2021-22 (16-15-31 in 79 GP).
• G Daniil Tarasov stopped 39-of-41 shots faced in a win over San Jose on Saturday and set a new career best with a shutout streak of 101:44 before allowing a second period goal.  The streak started in the third period of the Nashville game on Mar. 9.  He has allowed two goals in each of his last three starts and has compiled a 1.55 GAA and .957 SV% (134-of-140) since Mar. 7.  He has also stopped 261-of-277 shots faced (.942 SV%), while allowing three goals or less in each of his last seven starts to rank second in the NHL in save percentage and seventh in goals-against average (2.08) since Feb. 21 (min. 5 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier had his career-high five game points streak (2-4-6) snapped on Tuesday at Montreal.  He has posted 10-14-24 in 63 games and has set single-season career highs in assists, points and games played.  The 24-year-old also sits one goal shy of tying his career high set in 2021-22.
• F Dmitri Voronkov leads NHL rookies in power play goals and shots on goal and ranks second in goals and fifth-T in points since Jan. 15 with 10-1-11, four PPG and 64 shots on goal in 24 contests.  He is tied for second among NHL rookies in goals (Chicago’s Connor Bedard; 20) and ranks sixth-T in points with 17-14-31 in 61 appearances.  He’s also tied with Rick Nash (17, 2002-03) for the third-most goals by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only Kirill Marchenko (21, 2022-23) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (20, 2017-18).
• D Zach Werenski has collected assists in six of his last nine games (0-7-7) after recording an assist on Saturday to reach the 40-point plateau for the fifth time in his career.  He became the third player – and first defenseman – to record 200 career assists as a Blue Jacket, joining Rick Nash (258) and David Vyborny (204) with an assist at Pittsburgh on Mar. 5.  He has registered 3-10-13 in the last 18 games and has posted points in 13 of the past 21 outings (3-12-15).  He ranks 12th among NHL blueliners in assists-per-game (.65) as well as leads the team in TOI and ranks second in assists and points with 4-36-40 on 24:21 TOI in 55 contests this season.  The 26-year-old has reached the 30-assist mark for the fourth time in his career with his 36 helpers tied for the second-most in his career (2016-17), trailing only the 37 recorded in 2021-22.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Johnny Gaudreau is nine assists from 500 for his NHL career (242-491-733, 749 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is nine goals from 200 for his NHL career (191-170-361, 709 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is one game from 600 for his NHL career (70-176-246, 599 GP).
• D Damon Severson is one game from 700 for his NHL career (64-219-283, 699 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (83-201-284, 471 GP) is four assists from surpassing RW David Vyborny (113-204-317, 543 GP) for second-most in franchise history.

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Patrik Laine (clavicle fracture-Dec. 14; NHL Player Assistance Program-Jan. 28); 17 games (for injury)
• C Adam Fantilli (calf laceration on Jan. 28); expected to miss 8 weeks (18 games)
• F Kent Johnson (shoulder injury on Feb. 28); out rest of season (9 games)
• LW Justin Danforth (concussion on Mar. 7); out indefinitely (4 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (upper body injury on Mar. 12); is day-to-day (2 games)
• C Sean Kuraly (lower body injury on Mar. 12); is week-to-week (2 games)
• D Adam Boqvist (upper body injury on Mar. 14); out indefinitely (1 game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 219

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