By Joe Coopersmith

NOV. 1, 2024 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. WINNIPEG JETS

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  FanDuel Sports Network

Steve Mears (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (analyst), Dave Maetzold  (reporter), Brian Giesenschlag (Host)

Radio:  93.3 The Bus   

Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

Jets to Watch

• LW Kyle Connor ranks second-T in the league in goals and fifth-T in points with 9-8-17 while recording points in all 10 games this season.  He has notched three consecutive seasons with 30-plus goals and 60 or more points.
• G Connor Hellebuyck, who has been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) in four of the last seven seasons, including winning the trophy in 2019-20 and 2023-24, leads the NHL in wins in 2024-25 and ranks sixth in GAA and SV% (min. 4 GP) with a 7-1-0 record, 2.12 GAA and .923 SV% in eight contests.

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 17-16-0-1 in 33 all-time games against the Jets franchise, including 9-8-0-0 at home.
• The teams have each swept a season series over the last two campaigns with Columbus outscoring Winnipeg 7-2 in two wins in the 2022-23 campaign and the Jets outscoring the Jackets 11-1 in the 2023-24 series.
• CBJ had recorded points in five-straight games of the series (4-0-1) prior to the Jets’ 2023-24 series sweep.
• Columbus is 3-1-0 against Winnipeg in the last four games played at Nationwide Arena.
• The winning team has recorded four or more goals in 12 of the last 15 games of the series dating back to Dec. 10, 2015 and has limited the other team to one goal or less in four-straight and five of the last six since Nov. 24, 2021.
• CBJ have recorded a power play goal in four of the last five home games of the series (4-of-15; 26.7 pct.).
• Columbus has recorded five of the seven shutouts in the all-time series (MR CBJ: Merzlikins, 36 saves in 3-0 W at CBJ on Nov. 24, 2021) but Winnipeg recorded the most recent one in the last game in Manitoba (Hellebuyck, 29 saves in 5-0 WPG win on Jan. 9, 2024).

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 1, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)
• Dec. 8, 2024 – at WINNIPEG (6 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Jets

• LW Zach Aston-Reese – 3-2-5 in 7 career GP, including single-game career-highs in goals and points (2-1-3) on Oct. 13, 2019 at Winnipeg.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 1-10-11 in 17 career GP, including points in five of his last seven home games against the club (1-4-5) and six of 10 career home contests (1-5-6).
• C Sean Monahan – 6-13-19 in 30 career GP, including goals in each of his last two home games (2-0-2) and points in his last three home outings (2-1-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 7-14-21 in 34 career GP, including 5-5-10 with a three-point outing in 16 career home games.
• D Zach Werenski – 2-6-8 in 10 career GP, including points in three of his last four contests against the Jets (1-2-3) and five of his past six overall (1-4-5).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus won its third consecutive home game and stretched its points streak to four-straight (3-0-1) following a 2-0 victory over the NY Islanders on Wednesday.  It’s the first time since Nov. 10-17, 2022 that the club has won three-straight games at Nationwide Arena.
• CBJ finished the month of October with a 5-3-1 record.  The .611 points percentage is the fourth-highest for the month of October in franchise history, trailing only .682 in Oct. 2007 (7-3-1), .667 in Oct. 2017 (8-4-0) and .625 in Oct. 2021 (5-3-0).
• Friday’s contest completes a three-game homestand and stretch of seven-of-eight games played at Nationwide Arena from Oct. 15-Nov. 1.
• The team plays its first of 12 back-to-back sets of the season on Friday vs. Winnipeg and Saturday at Washington.
• Following Friday’s game, CBJ play seven of the next eight games away from Nationwide Arena through Nov. 18.  The stretch includes a five-game road trip that includes stops at Washington (Nov. 2), San Jose (Nov. 5), Los Angeles (Nov. 9), Anaheim (Nov. 10) and Seattle (Nov. 12).
• The Blue Jackets have scored a franchise-high 35 goals through the first nine games of the season, surpassing the franchise-high 31 scored in 2009-10, 2016-17 and 2018-19.  CBJ had a franchise-record 36 goals scored through the first 10 games of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Columbus set a new club record for fewest games to 30 goals in a season, besting the previous nine games in 2009-10, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• The club’s 3.89 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks sixth in the NHL, trailing Winnipeg (4.60), Vegas (4.55), Ottawa (4.22), NY Rangers (4.11) and Tampa Bay (3.90).
• The Jackets, thanks to allowing three goals over the last three home games, including their first shutout of the season against the Islanders on Wednesday, rank sixth-T in the NHL in goals-against/game at 2.78.
• CBJ, who scored both of their goals in the third period against the Islanders, have scored in 20-of-27 regulation periods this season with 12 multi-goal frames.
• Columbus’ 29 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are the third-most in the NHL this season, trailing Vegas (37) and New Jersey (30).
• The club has had 13 different goal scorers record a goal this season after LW Mikael Pyyhtia notched his first career goal on Monday.
• Columbus has scored the first goal in seven (5-1-1 when scoring first) of the nine games this season, failing to score first only against Minnesota in the two-game season series (Oct. 10 and 19).  The team is tied with the Wild for the highest percentage of scoring first in their games this season (77.8 pct.).
• CBJ have killed off 11-of-12 opponent power play chances over the last four games (91.7 pct.; 3rd-T in NHL since Oct. 22).  The club has also killed off 18-of-20 chances over the past seven (90.0 pct.; 4th in NHL since Oct. 15) after allowing PP goals on 3-of-7 chances in the first two outings of the season.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ has six players that are averaging close to a point-per-game pace or better to start the season: F Kent Johnson (1.25, 2-3-5 in 4 GP), RW Kirill Marchenko (1.22, 4-7-11 in 9 GP), C Sean Monahan (1.00, 5-4-9 in 9 GP), RW Yegor Chinakhov (.89, 3-5-8 in 9 GP), C Cole Sillinger (.89, 2-6-8 in 9 GP) and D Zach Werenski (.89, 3-5-8 in 9 GP).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has points in six of nine games (3-5-8), kicked off the season with a five-game points streak for the second-longest points streak of his career (6-4-10 in six-straight games from Dec. 8-21, 2023) and tied for the third-longest points streak at the start of a campaign in club history (Ryan Johansen – 10 games from Oct. 9-31, 2014; Nick Foligno – six games from Oct. 9-23, 2014).
• RW Kevin Labanc (0-5-5, 7 GP) has recorded an assist in five of his last six games played.
• RW Kirill Marchenko had his three-game points streak (2-3-5) come to an end on Wednesday.  The forward, with 4-7-11 in nine contests, became the fifth different player in franchise history to record double-digit points in the first eight games of a season (Rick Nash, 2x; Ryan Johansen; Oliver Bjorkstrand; Scott Hartnell). He leads the club in assists, points and multi-game efforts (4).
• G Elvis Merzlikins moved into sole possession of fourth place on the club’s all-time list for shutouts (11) after turning aside all 26 shots faced on Wednesday.  He has turned aside 57-of-58 shots faced while picking up two wins against the Oilers and Islanders this week (.983 SV%).  He ranks fifth in the NHL in GAA (2.05) and SV% (.925) among netminder to play four or more games in 2024-25.
• C Sean Monahan (5-4-9, 9 GP) scored his first multi-goal outing as a Blue Jacket, including his second power play goal of the season, with two goals on Monday vs. Edmonton.  He has collected points in three of his last five games (3-2-5).
• RW Mathieu Olivier had his career-high three-game points streak (3-1-4) snapped on Wednesday.  He has notched points in four of his last six outings (4-2-6) with two multi-point efforts and sits one goal shy of tying his career high (66 GP in 2022-23; 54 GP in 2023-24).
• C Cole Sillinger has collected assists in two-straight games (1-3-4), including picking up his fourth career three-point outings with 1-2-3 on Monday vs. Edmonton.  A season after setting a career high in assists (19), he ranks second on the club in that category with 2-6-8 in nine outings.
• D Zach Werenski had registered points in three-straight games (1-3-4) prior to Wednesday’s contest against the Islanders.  He ranks fifth-T among NHL blueliners in goals – one shy of the NHL leaders – and shots on goal as well as 12th-T in points with 3-5-8 and 32 shots in nine contests this season.  The 27-year-old is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 93-217-310 in 495 games and sits seven points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.  He also ranks seventh among NHL blueliners in goals since making his NHL debut in 2016-17 (NSH’s Roman Josi, 129).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Jack Johnson is five games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-260-337, 1,195 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is 11 games from 500 for his NHL career (58-80-138, 489 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 15 games from 500 for his NHL career (82-148-230, 485 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is five games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (70-81-30, 195 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is two assists from 300 for his NHL career (249-298-547, 773 GP).
• D Damon Severson is four points from 300 for his NHL career (69-227-296, 723 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is seven goals from 100 and five games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (93-217-310, 495 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (9 Games)
• LW Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 4; (9 Games)
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3; (9 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (6 Games)
• F Kent Johnson (upper body); (5 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 43

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS