By Joe Coopersmith

OCT. 17, 2024 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. BUFFALO SABRES

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  Bally Sports Ohio
Steve Mears (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (analyst), Dave Maetzold  (reporter)

Radio:  97.1 The Fan
Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

PR Twitter                         @BlueJacketsPR

Websites/Links              BlueJackets.com/PressBox; BlueJackets.com/MediaGuide

Game Notes                   Game Notes are available at Media.NHL.com

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 25-15-4 in 44 all-time games against the Sabres, including 11-8-1 at home.
• CBJ have recorded points in 16 of the last 22 meetings in the series since Apr. 8, 2016 (13-6-3).
• Buffalo has won the last three-straight at Nationwide Arena dating back to Dec. 7, 2022.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 12 of the last 15 games of the series but was held to three goals or less in each of the past two (3-2 Buffalo OT win on Dec. 30, 2023 and 2-1 Buffalo win on Feb. 23, 2024).
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in eight of the last 10 meetings.
• Columbus has recorded hat tricks in two of the last five games of the series (Eric Robinson in 5-3 win on Feb. 28, 2023 at Buffalo and Kirill Marchenko in 9-4 win on Dec. 19, 2023 at Buffalo).
• Each club has recorded three shutouts in the all-time series with CBJ’s Sergei Bobrovsky registering the most recent one with 38 saves in a 4-0 win at Buffalo on Mar. 31, 2019.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Oct. 17, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)
• Feb. 4, 2025 – at Buffalo (7 p.m. ET)
• Apr. 10, 2025 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Sabres

• RW Yegor Chinakhov – 0-5-5 in 7 career GP, including assists in four of his last five outings against the club (0-5-5).
• C Adam Fantilli – 2-1-3 in 2 career GP, notching goals in both of his career games against Buffalo.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 1-4-5 in 9 career GP, with points in five of his nine career outings.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 3-1-4 in 6 career GP, recording all of his points in the three-game series in 2023-24.
• C Sean Monahan – 9-13-22 in 22 career GP, with points in four of his last five appearances vs. the Sabres (2-2-4).
• D Ivan Provorov – 5-12-17 in 28 career GP, including assists in four of his last six home outings (0-4-4).
• D Damon Severson – 2-12-14 in 31 career GP, with points in four of his last six home contests (1-3-4) and three of his past four overall (1-3-4).
• D Zach Werenski – 1-11-12 in 17 career GP, including points in nine of his last 12 games overall against the team (1-9-10).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 20-10-30 in 53 career GP, including seven career multi-point efforts.

HONORING JOHNNY & MATTHEW GAUDREAU

• The Blue Jackets will honor the memory of LW Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, during the 2024-25 season with a special “13 & 21” helmet sticker and “13” patch on their jerseys.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus fell in its home opener, 4-3, to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
• Tuesday’s contest kicked off a stretch of seven-of-eight games played at Nationwide Arena from Oct. 15-Nov. 1, including a four-game homestand from Oct. 15-22 (Florida, Buffalo, Minnesota, Toronto).
• The club has scored 11 goals in the first three games of the campaign (3.67 average).  It’s tied for the most goals scored through the first three contests of a season in franchise history (Oct. 14-19, 2021).
• The team plays its second of 19 Thursday games this season (13 at home) when it hosts the Sabres.
• The club plays an Atlantic Division opponent in three of its four home games over the homestand.
• Columbus, which has scored the first goal of the game in each of the past two contests (1-1-0), scored the first goal of the game 45 times in 2023-24, tied for the ninth-most in the NHL and finishing with the fourth-most in a season in franchise history.
• CBJ have recorded 30-plus shots on goal in two of the first three contests in 2024-25.  The team registered 30 or more shots in 38 of its 82 games in 2023-24.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• The Blue Jackets’ average age of their opening-day roster was 27.3, the seventh-youngest team in the NHL.  Columbus was tied for the third-youngest team to begin the 2023-24 campaign at 25.9.
• Four players made their Blue Jackets debut in the 2024-25 season opener at Minnesota on Oct. 10 with forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Kevin Labanc, Sean Monahan and James van Riemsdyk all suiting up against the Wild.  Defenseman Jordan Harris made his club debut in the home opener vs. Florida on Tuesday.
• F Kent Johnson and D Zach Werenski recorded goals at Minnesota and Colorado last week, becoming the second set of teammates to score in the club’s first two games of a season in franchise history (RW Cam Atkinson & C Artem Anisimov from Oct. 9-11, 2014).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (1-4-5) and D Damon Severson (0-3-3) have collected assists in each of the club’s three games this season.  They are the first set of teammates to accomplish the feat in a campaign and trail only Nick Foligno’s six-game assist streak to start the 2014-15 season for the longest assist streak to start a campaign in CBJ history.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded points in all three games (2-2-4) after picking up an assist on Tuesday.  He set career highs during his rookie season in 2022-23, finishing with 16-24-40 in 79 outings.
• RW Kirill Marchenko tied his career high with his third three-point effort at Colorado on Oct. 12 (1-2-3).  He notched his 45^th career goal with the tally and trails only Boone Jenner (48) for the most goals with the club since 2022-23.  With another 20-goal campaign in 2024-25 can become the first player in club history to hit the 20-goal mark in each of his first three NHL seasons.
• C Sean Monahan (2-2-4, 3 GP) has recorded goals in each of the last two contests after scoring a second period goal in the home opener on Tuesday.  He has notched double-digit goals in nine of his 11 campaigns and has recorded 20-plus goals eight times, including 26-33-59 in 83 contests split between Montreal and Winnipeg in 2023-24.
• D Zach Werenski scored goals in each of the first two contests (2-0-2).  He is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 92-212-304 in 488 games and sits 13 points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.  He ranks seventh among NHL blueliners in goals since making his NHL debut in 2016-17 (NSH’s Roman Josi, 129).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Erik Gudbranson is one assist from 100 and eight games from 800 for his NHL career (34-99-133, 792 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals away from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career goal (192-172-364, 715 GP).
• D Jack Johnson is 11 games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-259-336, 1,189 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is 17 games from 500 for his NHL career (58-78-136, 483 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 19 games from 500 for his NHL career (82-144-226, 481 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is seven games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (68-81-30, 193 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is four assists from 300 for his NHL career (246-296-542, 767 GP).
• D Damon Severson is six points from 300 for his NHL career (67-227-294, 717 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is eight goals from 100 and 11 games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (92-212-304, 489 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Justin Danforth (wrist) is on the Injured/Non-Roster List on Oct. 7 (3 Games)
• F Boone Jenner (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7 (3 Games)
• LW Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 4  (3 Games)
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3 (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 12

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