By Joe Coopersmith

NOV. 9, 2024 II CRYPTO.COM ARENA II AT LOS ANGELES KINGS

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:  97.1 The Fan   

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

Kings to Watch

• C Anze Kopitar leads the Kings in points and ranks second in assists with 5-10-15 in 15 games this season and has posted nine 70-point campaigns in his career as well as 20-20-40 in 45 career appearances against Columbus.
• C Alex Laferriere, who has collected assists in back-to-back outings (0-3-3), leads the club in goals and ranks second in points with 8-6-14 in 15 contests in 2024-25.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 27-32-1-7 in 67 all-time meetings vs. the Kings, including 10-21-1-2 on the road.
• The Kings have won three-straight in the series (CBJ; 0-2-1) and five of the last six (CBJ; 1-3-2) since Mar. 4, 2022.
• The home team has recorded points in six-straight games of the all-time series (4-0-2) and 13 of the last 15 meetings dating back to Dec. 8, 2015 (10-2-3).
• Four of the last eight games between the two teams dating back to Dec. 19, 2019 have been decided in overtime with each team recording two OT victories.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in four-straight and 10 of the last 12 contests.
• CBJ have killed off 16-of-18 Kings power play chances in the last nine games (88.9 pct.).
• Three of the four Columbus shutouts against the Kings in the all-time serves have been recorded at Los Angeles, including the most recent by Curtis Sanford, who had 31 saves in a 1-0 victory on Jan. 7, 2012.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 9, 2024 – at LOS ANGELES (9 pm ET)
• Jan. 25, 2025 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Kings

• RW Kevin Labanc – 7-7-14 in 29 career GP, including 2-1-3 in his last four contests at Los Angeles.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 3-0-3 in 4 career GP, scoring in each of his first three games against the club.
• C Sean Monahan – 11-11-22 in 34 career GP, including a goal in his last game against Los Angeles on Apr. 1, 2024 (with Winnipeg).
• D Ivan Provorov – 2-5-7 in 14 career GP, including 2-1-3 in seven career games at Los Angeles.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 7-11-18 in 23 career GP, including assists in four-straight meetings against the club (3-4-7) after posting 2-1-3 with Boston in the most recent contest on Feb. 17, 2024 at TD Garden.
• D Zach Werenski – 2-4-6 in 12 career GP, including 1-2-3 in his last five outings at Crypto.com Arena.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus picked up a point in a 2-1 overtime loss at San Jose on Tuesday.  The club plays its third of a five-game road trip at Los Angeles on Saturday.  The five-game road trip is tied for the longest of the season, also playing five consecutive road contests from Dec. 1-8.
• The team starts its second of 12 back-to-back sets of the season on Saturday at Los Angeles.  The Jackets complete the back-to-back set at Anaheim on Sunday.
• The team plays its fifth (1-2-1) of 21 Saturday games (11 on the road) during the 2024-25 season when it visits the Kings.  CBJ play on seven-straight Saturdays from Oct. 12-Nov. 23 to begin the campaign.
• 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).
• The club’s 3.33 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks 12th in the NHL.
• CBJ have scored in 24-of-36 regulation periods this season.  The team has also registered 13 multi-goal frames.
• Columbus’ 33 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are tied with Los Angeles for the third-most in the NHL this season, trailing Washington (34), and Vegas (40).
• The club has had 15 different goal scorers this season after RW Kevin Labanc notched his first goal of 2024-25 at Washington on Nov. 2.
• Columbus has scored the first goal in seven (5-1-1 when scoring first) of the 12 games this season.
• CBJ have killed off 17-of-19 opponent power play chances over the last seven games (89.5 pct.; 5th in NHL since Oct. 22) and 24-of-27 PP chances over the past 10 contests (88.9 pct.; 4^th since Oct. 15).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ have five players that are averaging .75 points-per-game or better to start the season: F Kent Johnson (1.25, 2-3-5 in 4 GP), RW Kirill Marchenko (1.08, 5-8-13 in 12 GP), C Sean Monahan (.92, 6-5-11 in 12 GP), D Zach Werenski (.75, 3-6-9 in 12 GP) and RW Yegor Chinakhov (.75, 3-6-9 in 12 GP).
• RW Yegor Chinakhov, who has points in seven of 12 games (3-6-9), 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).
• D Jack Johnson, who began his NHL career with the Kings in 2006-07, sits two contests from becoming the 38th defenseman in NHL history to play in 1,200 games.
• RW Kevin Labanc has recorded a point in six of his nine games (1-5-6), including his first goal as a Blue Jacket at Washington on Nov. 2.
• RW Kirill Marchenko collected CBJ’s lone goal on Tuesday and has points in five of the last seven games (3-4-7).  The forward leads the club in assists, points and multi-point efforts and ranks second in goals with 5-8-13 and four multi-point effots in 12 contests.  His 49 goals are the most by a Blue Jacket since making his NHL debut in 2022-23.
• G Elvis Merzlikins has allowed two goals or less in three of his last four starts, turning aside 120-of-129 shots faced.  He has recorded points in three of those contests (2-1-1) and ranks fifth among NHL netminders in SV% (.390 and eighth in GAA (2.23) among goaltenders with at least three games played since Oct. 28.
• C Sean Monahan, who has notched points in seven of his first 12 games with the club, leads CBJ in goals and ranks second in points and multi-point outings with 6-5-11 and three multi-point games.  He has registered 3-1-4 in the last five games.  He sits one assist shy from becoming the fourth player from the 2013 NHL Draft to collect 300 career assists, joining Nathan MacKinnon (583), Aleksander Barkov (454) and Elias Lindholm (299).
• RW Mathieu Olivier who has recorded 4-2-6 in the first 12 contests this season, sits one goal shy of tying his career high (66 GP in 2022-23; 54 GP in 2023-24).
• D Damon Severson has collected points in two-straight games (1-1-2) and three of the last four (2-1-3).  He ranks second among Columbus blueliners in points with seven 3-4-7 in 12 games.
• C Cole Sillinger has collected 1-3-4 in the past five games, including picking up his fourth career three-point outing with 1-2-3 on Oct. 28 vs. Edmonton.  A season after setting a career high in assists (19), he ranks second-T on the club in that category with 2-6-8 in 12 outings.
• LW James van Riemsdyk collected an assist on Nov.1 vs Winnipeg and has points in three of his past six contests (1-2-3).
• D Zach Werenski has posted points in four of the last seven games (1-4-5).  He ranks sixth among NHL blueliners in shots on goal and seventh-T in goals with 3-6-9 and 43 shots in 12 contests this season.  The 27-year-old is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 93-218-311 in 498 games and sits six 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, 130).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Jack Johnson is two games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-260-337, 1,198 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is eight games from 500 for his NHL career (59-80-139, 492 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 13 games from 500 for his NHL career (83-148-231, 487 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is three games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (70-82-31, 197 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is one assist from 300 for his NHL career (250-299-549, 776 GP).
• D Damon Severson is two points from 300 for his NHL career (70-228-298, 726 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is seven goals from 100 and two games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (93-218-311, 498 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (12 Games)
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3; (12 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (9 Games)
• F Kent Johnson (upper body); (8 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 55

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