By Joe Coopersmith

Penguins to Watch

«  C Sidney Crosby, who leads the Penguins in goals, assists, and points with 35-41-76 in 71 games this season, has notched 20-37-57 in 40 career games against CBJ.

«  D Erik Karlsson ranks second on the team in assists and leads Pens blueliners in goals (tied) and points with 8-38-46 in 71 contests and has collected 10-17-27 in 26 career outings vs. the Blue Jackets.

«  C Evgeni Malkin ranks second on Pittsburgh in points with 19-34-53 in 71 games and has registered 16-29-45 in 36 career outings against Columbus.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 15-28-9 in 52 all-time meetings vs. Pittsburgh, including 4-17-5 on the road.

«  The Blue Jackets have collected points in two of the last four meetings of the series (1-2-1).

«  Pittsburgh has won 14 consecutive home games in the series dating back to Dec. 21, 2015 (CBJ; 0-9-5).

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in 11 of the past 14 games of the series.

«  The teams combined for 70 or more shots in and seven of the last nine meetings with the teams averaging 72.2 shots combined over that stretch.

«  Nick Foligno (Apr. 4, 2015), Scott Hartnell (Dec. 22, 2016) and Gustav Nyquist (Nov. 29, 2019) own the Blue Jackets’ hat tricks in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

«  Nov. 14, 2023 – PIT 5, at CBJ 3

«  Mar. 5, 2024 – at PIT 5, CBJ 3

«  Mar. 28, 2024 – at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. ET)

«  Mar. 30, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Penguins

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 9-6-15 in 20 career GP, including points in seven of his last 10 games against the club overall (5-3-8) as well as points in four of his last five at Pittsburgh (3-2-5) after notching a goal onin the Mar. 5.5 contest.

«  D Zach Werenski – 2-6-8 in 16 career GP, including assists in two-straight games and three of his last four against the Penguins (0-3-3), points in six of his past eight games against the club overall (1-5-6) as well as points in each of his last three contests at PPG Paints Arena (1-2-3).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets fell to 4-7-2 in its last 13 games and 7-11-2 in the past 20 since Feb. 17 after falling 6-2 in Arizona on Tuesday.  The club is 0-3-1 in its first four games of a season-high (tied) five-game road trip.
• Following Thursday’s game at Pittsburgh, the Blue Jackets will play five of their last nine games of the season at home, including a four-game homestand from Mar. 30-Apr. 6.
• The home-and-home set against the Penguins on Mar. 28-30 is the second of the season against a team for the club (1-1-0 vs. NYR from Feb. 25-28).
• The Blue Jackets have scored the first goal of the game in each of the first four contests of the road trip and six of the last seven outings of the season.
• Columbus has scored at least one first period goal in the first four games of the current road trip (5 total) and ranks seventh in the league with 70 first period goals this season.
• CBJ scored both of their goals at Arizona on Tuesday. It was the third time this season the club has recorded multiple power play goals in a single game (MR: Dec. 1 vs. OTT).
• CBJ ranks 13th in the league in penalty kill percentage since Feb. 21 (80.9 pct.), having killed off 38 of the past 47 opponent power play opportunities over the past 18 games.
• Columbus has recorded 700 shots on goal over the last 22 contests and ranks 11th in the NHL in shots-on-goal per game since returning from the NHL break on Feb. 10 (31.8).
• CBJ have seen 17 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the ninth-most in the league.
• The Blue Jackets rank 13th in the NHL with 151 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• CBJ rank sixth in the league in blocks-per-60 minutes (17.18) and seventh in total blocked shots (1,252) and in 2023-24.
• Blue Jackets blueliners have collected 4-5-9 in the first four games of the road trip and have combined for 17-51-68 in the last 34 contests since Jan. 1 as well as 25-96-121 over the past 57 games.  They rank 11^th-T among NHL defensive units in assists and 12th in points with 30-128-158 in 72 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (38.1 pct.) and points percentage (29.2 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 30-37-67 in 72 games this season to lead the league among teams’ rookies in goals (tied, Chicago) and rank fourth in points and sixth 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 PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has missed the last seven 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, 11th-T in assists and 12^th in points with 12-15-27 in 49 outings despite missing the last 23 games due to the injury.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau registered assists on both Blue Jackets goals at Arizona on Tuesday.  The forward, who has collected assists in five of the past seven outings (1-8-9), has also registered points in 16 of his last 25 games (4-21-25) and has recorded the primary assist on 15 of his last 18 assists overall dating back to Feb. 10.  He leads the club in assists, points, multi-assists and multi-point outings with 11-43-54, 12 multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 72 contests and has collected 40 or more assists for the ninth time in his career.  He has also recorded 10-38-48 with 13 multi-point outings in his last 55 contests after collecting 1-5-6 in the first 17 games of the season.  In his second season with the club, he is already tied with Artemi Panarin for seventh-T all-time in multi-assist outings (26).
• D Erik Gudbranson has set single-season career highs in assists, points, and blocked shots with 5-15-20 and 151 blocked shots in 68 appearances and sits one goal shy of tying his single-season career high set with Calgary in 2021-22.
• C Boone Jenner, who recorded his eighth multi-point effort of the season at Arizona on Tuesday (1-1-2), has recorded 3-3-6 in the last seven games and has posted 9-8-17 in the last 22 contests dating back to Feb. 10.  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 192-172-363 in 714 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 22-13-35 in 57 outings and became the fourth player to record four 20-goal seasons on March 14 vs. Ottawa, including in each of his past three campaigns.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has picked up points in two of the last four games (1-1-2) and has registered 3-6-9 in the last 20 contests.  He ranks second on the team in goals with 18-16-34 in 68 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, who missed Tuesday’s game at Arizona due to an upper body injury, has recorded 8-3-11 in his first 15 games with the club after being held off the scoresheet in the past four contests.  He is 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 a team.
• D Ivan Provorov 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 132 blocked shots, while averaging 22:06 TOI in 72 appearances this season.
• D Damon Severson has tallied points in three of his last six contests (1-2-3) and leads Blue Jackets defensemen in goals this season with 7-15-22 in 57 appearances.
• C Cole Sillinger has posted 11-14-25 in 67 games this season and 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 has allowed two goals in three of his last five starts, compiling a 2.38 GAA and .934 SV% (199-of-213) in six games since Mar. 7, including stopping 43-of-47 shots at Vegas on Saturday.  He has stopped 326-of-350 shots faced (.931 SV%), while allowing three goals or less in six of his last eight starts to lead the NHL in save percentage and rank eighth in goals-against average (2.47) since Feb. 21 (min. 9 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier has picked up 3-4-7 in the last 13 games.  He has posted 11-14-25 in 68 games and has set single-season career highs in goals (tied, 2021-22), assists, points and games played.
• F Dmitri Voronkov leads NHL rookies in power play goals and shots on goal and ranks second-T in goals since Jan. 15 with 10-1-11, four PPG and 73 shots on goal in 29 contests.  He ranks fourth among NHL rookies in goals and eighth in points with 17-14-31 in 66 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 collected his ninth multi-point outing of the season with 1-1-2 at Arizona on Tuesday.  He has recorded assists in two-straight games (1-2-3) and has points points in five of the past seven games (2-6-8) and nine of the last 14 contests (2-11-13).  He has also registered 5-16-21 in the last 26 contests.  He ranks 11th among NHL blueliners in assists-per-game (.67) as well as leads the team in TOI and ranks second in assists and points with 6-40-46 and 24:22 TOI in 60 contests this season.  His 40 helpers are the third-most by a defenseman in a single season in franchise history, trailing only James Wisniewski (44, 2023-14) and Seth Jones (41, 2017-18).  The 26-year-old has reached the 40-point plateau for the fifth time in his career and 30-assist mark for the fourth time while setting a single-season career high in assists (37, 2021-22).  He became the third player – and first defenseman – to record 200 career assists as a Blue Jacket (85-206-291, 476 GP), joining Rick Nash (258) and David Vyborny (204) with an assist at Pittsburgh on Mar. 5.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Jake Bean is seven games from 200 for his NHL career (13-42-55, 193 GP).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau is five assists from 500 for his NHL career (242-495-737, 754 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-172-364, 714 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier is nine games from 200 for his NHL career (33-41-74, 191 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is nine points from 300 for his NHL career (85-206-291, 476 GP).

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 (23 games)
• F Kent Johnson (shoulder injury on Feb. 28); out rest of season (14 games)
• LW Justin Danforth (concussion on Mar. 7); out indefinitely (9 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (upper body injury on Mar. 12); is day-to-day (7 games)
• C Sean Kuraly (lower body injury on Mar. 12); is week-to-week (7 games)
• D Adam Boqvist (upper body injury on Mar. 14); out indefinitely (6 games)
• RW Alex Nylander (upper body injury on Mar. 23); is day-to-day (1 game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 250

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