By Joe Coopersmith

Hurricanes to Watch

«  C Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes in goals, assists and points with 34-52-86 in 74 appearances and has totaled 12-13-25 in 32 career games against the Blue Jackets.

«  C Jake Guentzel (27-45-72, 63 GP) has racked up 5-15-20 in 13 games with the Canes since being acquired in a trade from the Penguins and has registered 13-14-27 in 22 career outings against CBJ.

«  D Brady Skjei leads club blueliners with 13-31-44 in 77 contests this season and ranks 10^th-T among league defensemen in goals.

All-Time Series

«  Columbus has gone 26-27-5 in 58 all-time games against Carolina, including 13-13-3 on the road.

«  The Canes have won five of the last six meetings and 10 of the past 12 dating back to Mar. 22, 2021 (CBJ; 2-8-2).

«  The home team has won four of the last six games in the series since Feb. 25, 2022.  Prior to that the road team had picked up points in eight-straight games from Mar. 18, 2021-Jan. 13, 2022 (7-0-1).

«  The winning team has scored four or more goals in eight of the last nine meetings dating back to Oct. 23, 2022.

«  CBJ have killed off 11-of-12 Carolina power play chances over the last six games at PNC Arena (91.7 pct).

«  The Blue Jackets own four of the six shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins (31 saves in 6-0 win at Carolina on Mar. 22, 2021) posting the most recent CBJ shutout.

«  CBJ have also posted all four hat tricks (MR: Marchenko, Jan. 7, 2023) and lone penalty shot attempt (Atkinson goal; Feb. 8, 2021) in the series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

«  Nov. 26, 2023 – at CAR 3, CBJ 2

«  Feb. 29, 2024 – CAR 4, at CBJ 2

«  Apr. 7, 2024 – at Carolina (5 pm ET)

«  Apr. 16, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Hurricanes

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 7-7-14 in 19 career GP, including 4-5-9 with three multi-point efforts in his last seven outings at PNC Arena.

«  RW Kirill Marchenko – 4-0-4 with goals in 2 of his 4 career GP, including his first career hat trick on Jan. 7, 2023.

«  F Alexandre Texier – 2-3-5 in 11 career GP with 1-2-3 in his past four contests against the team.

«  D Zach Werenski – 4-5-9 in 25 career GP, including 2-2-4 in his last seven outings vs. the Hurricanes.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets won for the third time in the last four games and improved to 7-9-2 in the last 18 games and 10-13-2 in the past 25 since Feb. 17 following a 6-2 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday.
• The Jackets, which concluded a four-game homestand on Saturday (3-1-0), kick off a four-game road trip on Sunday at Carolina followed by stops in Tampa Bay (Apr. 9), Florida (Apr. 11) and Nashville (Apr. 13).
• CBJ close out their 13^th and final back-to-back set of the campaign at Carolina on Sunday.
• The Blue Jackets struck first against Philadelphia and have now scored the first goal in eight of the last nine games with the lone exception Thursday against the NY Islanders.  CBJ have scored the first goal of the game in 10 of the last 12 outings.  The team has scored first 43 times in 2023-24, tied for the eighth-most in the NHL.  It’s also tied for the fourth-most in a season in franchise history (2000-01).
• Columbus has scored at least one first-period goal in seven of the last nine games (10 total), including two goals in each of the last two games.  The club ranks seventh-T in the league with 75 first-period goals this season.
• Columbus has recorded 841 shots on goal over the last 27 contests and ranks 12th-T in the NHL in shots-on-goal per game since returning from the NHL break on Feb. 10 (31.1).
• CBJ have seen 18 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the ninth-most in the league.
• The Blue Jackets scored five goals at even strength on Saturday and rank 11th-T in the NHL with 164 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• CBJ rank sixth in the league in total blocked shots (1,329) and blocks-per-60 minutes (17.04) in 2023-24.
• Blue Jackets blueliners accounted for 6-2-8 in Saturday’s win, setting a franchise record for defensemen in most goals (6) and different players (4) to record a goal in a single game and tied the Washington Capitals on Dec. 4, 1992 vs. the NY Rangers for most combined goals by defensemen in a game in NHL history (4 different players).  CBJ blueliners have combined for 11-16-27 over the past nine games as well as 24-63-87 in the last 39 contests since Jan. 1.  They rank eighth among NHL defensive units in assists (tied) and points with 37-139-176 in 77 games this season.  The club also leads the league in assists percentage (37.9 pct.) and points percentage (29.9 pct.) recorded by its defense.
• CBJ’s rookie class picked up 0-4-4 in Saturday’s win and has combined for 31-42-73 in 77 games this season to rank second-T among teams’ rookies in goals, fourth in points and fifth-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-34, Adam Fantilli-27).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has missed the last 11 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 ninth-T among NHL rookies in goals, 12th-T in points and 15th-T in assists with 12-15-27 in 49 outings despite missing the last 28 games due to the injury.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau collected two assists on Saturday and has picked up assists in his last three games (0-4-4) and eight of the past 11 outings (1-12-13).  He has also registered points in 19 of his last 29 games (4-25-29) and has recorded the primary assist on 17 of his last 22 assists overall dating back to Feb. 10.  He leads the club in assists, primary assists, points, multi-assists and multi-point outings with 11-47-58, 34 primary assists, 13 multi-assist and 15 multi-point efforts in 76 contests and has collected 40 or more assists for the ninth time in his career.  He has also recorded 10-42-52 with 14 multi-point outings in his last 59 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 Seth Jones for sixth-T all-time in multi-assist outings (27).
• D Erik Gudbranson notched a goal on Saturday and has totaled 1-2-3 in his last three contests.  He has set single-season career highs in goals (tied, 2021-22 with Calgary), assists, points and blocked shots with 6-17-23 and 162 blocked shots in 73 appearances.
• C Boone Jenner, who has missed the past four 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, who has recorded 4-3-7 in the last nine games, ranks second on the team in goals with 21-18-39 in 73 appearances this season and has set single-season career highs in goals (tied), 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 collected an assist on Saturday and has recorded 10-4-14 with three multi-goal efforts in his first 19 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 has tied his single-season career high in goals (2022-23) with 5-5-10 in 49 appearances this season.
• D Ivan Provorov has recorded 5-26-31 and 145 blocked shots, while averaging 22:09 TOI in 77 outings this season.  He ranks second on the club in blocked shots and time on ice and third in assists, while also setting a single-season career high in assists.
• D Damon Severson notched his second two-goal game of the season (also Nov. 16 vs. ARI) on Saturday and has picked up points in six of the last 11 games (3-4-7).  He is tied for the team lead among defensemen in goals this season with 9-17-26 in 62 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger had his four-game points streak (2-3-5) snapped on Saturday.  It was tied for his career high set earlier this season (3-1-4; Feb. 28-Mar. 4, 2024).  He has posted 13-17-30 in 72 games this season and has set a new single-season career high in assists (15, 2021-22).
• G Daniil Tarasov has compiled a 2.46 GAA and .935 SV% (290-of-310) in nine games (eight starts) since Mar. 7.  He has finished with a .900 or better save percentage in 11 of his 13 last appearances dating back to Feb.21 and leads the NHL in SV% (.933) and ranks eighth in saves (417-of-447) and GAA (tied, 2.51) over that span (min. 10 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier has collected assists in three-straight games (0-3-3) for the third time in his NHL career and has picked up assists in four of the past five games (0-4-5).  The forward, who has also registered 3-8-11 in the last 18 games, has posted 11-18-29 in 73 games to set single-season career highs in goals (tied, 2021-22), assists, points and games played.
• F Dmitri Voronkov, who has collected points in three-straight contests (1-2-3) after collecting an assist on Saturday, leads NHL rookies in power play goals and shots on goal and ranks third in goals since Jan. 15 with 11-3-14, five PPG and 85 shots on goal in 33 contests.  He leads NHL rookies in PPG and ranks fourth-T in goals, sixth-T in points and 11th-T in assists with 18-16-34 and six PPG in 71 appearances.  He surpassed Rick Nash (17, 2002-03) for the third-most goals by a rookie in franchise history on Thursday and trails only Kirill Marchenko (21, 2022-23) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (20, 2017-18).
• D Zach Werenski notched his third game of three or more points of the season with 2-1-3 on Saturday.  He has collected assists in two-straight games (2-2-4) and has points in eight of the past 12 games (5-9-14) and 12 of the last 19 contests (5-14-19).  He has also registered 8-19-27 in the last 31 contests and ranks second among NHL blueliners in goals and seventh-T in points since Feb. 17 (8-14-22 in 25 GP).  He also ranks 11th among NHL blueliners in assists-per-game (.66), as well as leads the team in TOI, and ranks second in assists and points with 9-43-52 and 24:25 TOI in 65 contests this season.  He has set single-season career highs in assists and points and has posted the second-most assists (James Wisniewski; 44 in 2023-14) and points (Seth Jones; 57 in 2017-18) by a defenseman in a season in club history.  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 three games from 200 for his NHL career (13-43-56, 197 GP).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau is one assist from 500 for his NHL career (242-499-741, 758 GP).
• C Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-172-364, 715 GP).
• F Alexandre Texier is four games from 200 for his NHL career (33-44-77, 196 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is three points from 300 for his NHL career (88-209-297, 481 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 (28 games)
• F Kent Johnson (shoulder injury on Feb. 28); out rest of season (19 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (upper body injury on Mar. 12); is day-to-day (12 games)
• C Sean Kuraly (lower body injury on Mar. 12); is week-to-week (12 games)
• D Adam Boqvist (upper body injury on Mar. 14); out indefinitely (11 games)
• G Elvis Merzlikins (lower body injury on Apr. 1); is day-to-day (3 games)
• D Jake Bean (broken hand on Apr. 4); out rest of season (1 game)
• G Daniil Tarasov (upper body injury on Apr. 4); is day-to-day (1 game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 286

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