By Joe Coopersmith

Islanders to Watch

«  C Mathew Barzal, who leads the team in points and ranks second in assists with 23-53-76 in 74 games this season, has recorded 8-13-21 in 19 games vs. Columbus.

«  D Noah Dobson ranks fifth among NHL blueliners in assists and sixth-T in points with 8-58-66 in 75 games this season and has tallied 0-6-6 in 11 career outings against the Blue Jackets.

«  C Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with 31-34-65 in 74 appearances this season and has racked up 9-9-18 in 18 career outings vs. the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 24-20-8 in 52 all-time games against the Islanders, including 16-6-5 at home.

«  The Islanders have won four of the past five contests in regulation in the all-time series and eight of the past nine overall since Mar. 20, 2022 (CBJ; 1-7-1).

«  Four of the last six games and eight of the past 13 meetings have been decided by a single goal.

«  The teams combined for 65 or more shots in 10 of the past 13 games of the series.

«  Columbus has converted on 5-of-16 power play opportunities over the last six games in the series (31.3 pct.).

«  The Islanders own nine of the 13 shutouts in the all-time series, with the Blue Jackets’ most recent shutout recorded by Sergei Bobrovsky (26 saves) in a 4-0 win at Columbus on Mar. 26, 2019.

«  New York has recorded all three hat tricks in the all-time series (MR: Anders Lee in 6-0 win at NYI on Mar. 10, 2022), while neither team has been rewarded a penalty shot.

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

«  Oct. 28, 2023 – NYI  2, at CBJ 2

«  Dec. 7, 2023 – at NYI 7, CBJ 3

«  Apr. 4, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Islanders

«  C Johnny Gaudreau – 5-12-17 in 17 career GP, recording at least a point in 11 of his last 14 appearances against the club (4-12-16) as well as points in all but his most recent home game (4-8-11 in 9 career home GP).

«  C Boone Jenner – 6-8-14 in 30 career GP, including 3-2-5 in his past six home contests against the Isles.

«  D Zach Werenski – 2-10-12 in 19 career GP, including assists in three of his past five appearances vs. the club (0-3-3).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets won a second-straight game and improved to 6-8-2 in their last 16 games and 9-12-2 in the past 23 since Feb. 17 with a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
• Columbus, which continues its four-game homestand (2-0-0) on Thursday against the Islanders, is 5-2-1 in its past eight home contests since the beginning of March.
• The Blue Jackets have scored the first goal in seven-straight games and nine of the last 10 outings of the season.  CBJ have scored first 42 times in 2023-24, tied for the sixth-most in the NHL.  It’s also tied for the fifth-most in a season in franchise history (2018-19) and one behind the 2000-01 campaign.
• Columbus scored at least one first period goal in five of the last seven games (6 total) and ranks tenth in the league with 71 first period goals this season.
• Columbus has recorded 781 shots on goal over the last 25 contests and ranks 13th in the NHL in shots-on-goal per game since returning from the NHL break on Feb. 10 (31.2).
• CBJ have seen 18 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the ninth-most in the league.
• The Blue Jackets rank 12th-T in the NHL with 158 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• CBJ rank sixth in the league in total blocked shots (1,292) and seventh in blocks-per-60 minutes (17.00) in 2023-24.
• Blue Jackets blueliners collected 0-4-4 in Monday’s win and have combined for 5-13-18 over the past seven games as well as 18-60-78 in the last 37 contests since Jan. 1.  They rank eighth-T among NHL defensive units in assists and 10th-T in points with 31-136-167 in 75 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (38.6 pct.) and points percentage (29.5 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class has combined for 30-38-68 in 75 games this season to lead the league among teams’ rookies in goals (tied, Chicago and Philadelphia) and rank fourth in points and sixth-T 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-32, Adam Fantilli-27).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has missed the last 10 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 eighth-T among NHL rookies in goals, 12^th in points and 13th-T in assists with 12-15-27 in 49 outings despite missing the last 26 games due to the injury.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau has picked up assists two-straight games and seven of the past 10 outings (1-10-11).  He has also registered points in 18 of his last 28 games (4-23-27) and has recorded the primary assist on 16 of his last 20 assists overall dating back to Feb. 10.  He leads the club in assists, primary assists, points, multi-assists and multi-point outings with 11-45-56, 12 multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 75 contests and has collected 40 or more assists for the ninth time in his career.  He has also recorded 10-40-50 with 13 multi-point outings in his last 58 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 tallied his fourth multi-assist and multi-point game of the season on Monday (0-2-2).  He has set single-season career highs in assists, points and blocked shots with 5-17-22 and 155 blocked shots in 71 appearances and sits one goal shy of tying his single-season career high set with Calgary in 2021-22.
• C Boone Jenner, who has missed the past two games, has recorded 3-3-6 in his last eight contests and has posted 9-8-17 in the last 23 outings 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 715 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 58 outings and became the fourth player to record four 20-goal seasons on Mar. 14 vs. Ottawa, including in each of his past three campaigns.
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his seventh multi-point game of the season with 1-1-2 on Monday and has recorded 3-2-5 in his last seven games.  He ranks second on the team in goals with 20-17-37 in 71 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.  He’s the second player in Blue Jackets history to record back-to-back 20-goal seasons to begin his NHL career (Pierre-Luc Dubois).
• LW Alex Nylander notched his third multi-goal game of the season with two goals on Monday and has recorded 10-3-13 in his first 17 games with the Blue Jackets.  He became 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.
• RW Mathieu Olivier tied his career-best with a goal in a second-straight game (Mar. 23-25, 2021) after notching his first career shorthanded goal on Saturday against Pittsburgh.  He has tied his single-season career high in goals (2022-23) with 5-5-10 in 47 appearances this season.
• D Ivan Provorov has picked up assists in two of the last three games (0-2-2), including setting a new single-season career high in assists on Thursday with his 25th of the campaign (24 in 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 5-26-31 and 139 blocked shots, while averaging 22:07 TOI in 75 appearances this season.
• D Damon Severson, who has picked up points in five of the last nine games (1-4-5), is tied for the team lead among defensemen in goals this season with 7-17-24 in 60 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger has posted points in three consecutive outings (2-2-4), one shy of tying his career high set earlier this season (3-1-4; Feb. 28-Mar. 4, 2024).  He has posted 13-16-29 in 70 games this season, setting a new single-season career high in assists (15, 2021-22).
• G Daniil Tarasov stopped 45-of-46 shots against Colorado on Monday (.978 SV%) and has compiled a 2.30 GAA and .939 SV% (277-of-295) in eight games (seven starts) since Mar. 7. He has finished with a .900 or better save percentage in 11 of his 12 last appearances dating back to Feb.21 and leads the NHL in SV% (.935) and ranks sixth in saves (404-of-432) and GAA (2.40) over that span (min. 10 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier has collected assists in two of the past three games and has picked up 3-6-9 in the last 16 games.  He has posted 11-16-27 in 71 games to 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 third in goals since Jan. 15 with 10-2-12, four PPG and 79 shots on goal in 32 contests.  He ranks fourth-T among NHL rookies in goals and ninth in points with 17-15-32 in 69 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, who has posted multiple points in two of his last four games (2-2-4), has recorded points in six of the past 10 games (3-7-10) and 10 of the last 17 contests (3-12-15).  He has also registered 6-17-23 in the last 29 contests and ranks third-T among NHL blueliners in goals since Feb. 17 (6-12-18 in 23 GP).  He ranks 11th among NHL blueliners in assists-per-game (.65) as well as leads the team in TOI and ranks second in assists and points with 7-41-48 and 24:28 TOI in 63 contests this season.  His 41 helpers are tied with Seth Jones (2017-18) for the second-most by a defenseman in a single season in franchise history, trailing only James Wisniewski (44, 2023-14) while his 48 points are tied for the most in his career (2021-22) and trail only Jones (57, 2017-18) and Wisniewski (51, 2013-14).  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.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Jake Bean is four games from 200 for his NHL career (13-43-56, 196 GP).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau is three assists from 500 for his NHL career (242-497-739, 757 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-172-364, 715 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier is six games from 200 for his NHL career (33-43-76, 194 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is seven points from 300 for his NHL career (86-207-293, 479 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 (26 games)
• F Kent Johnson (shoulder injury on Feb. 28); out rest of season (17 games)
• LW Justin Danforth (concussion on Mar. 7); out indefinitely (12 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (upper body injury on Mar. 12); is day-to-day (10 games)
• C Sean Kuraly (lower body injury on Mar. 12); is week-to-week (10 games)
• D Adam Boqvist (upper body injury on Mar. 14); out indefinitely (9 games)
• C Boone Jenner (Mar. 30); is day-to-day (2 games)
• G Elvis Merzlikins (lower body injury on Apr. 1); is day-to-day (1 game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 272

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