By Joe Coopersmith

NOV. 15, 2024 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

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)

Penguins to Watch

• C Sidney Crosby is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in assists and points with 6-11-17 in 18 contests this season and has totaled 20-40-60 in 42 career games against the Blue Jackets.
• C Evgeni Malkin leads the Penguins in assists and points with 5-13-18 in 18 outings and has totaled 18-30-48 in 38 career appearances against CBJ.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 16-29-9 in 54 all-time meetings vs. the Penguins, including 12-11-4 at home.
• CBJ have recorded points in three of the last six games against Pittsburgh since Mar. 7, 2023 (2-3-1).
• The Blue Jackets are 9-7-1 in the past 17 against the Penguins at Nationwide Arena.
• Two of the last three games at Nationwide Arena have been decided after regulation with CBJ winning one in overtime on Apr. 13, 2023 (3-2) and one in the shootout in the most recent meeting on Mar. 30, 2024 (4-3).
• Four of the last six games of the all-time series since Mar. 7, 2023 have been decided by a single goal.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in eight of the last 10 games of the series (including SO) dating back to Mar. 22, 2022.
• The clubs have combined for 70-plus shots in seven of the last nine meetings.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 15, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)
• Jan. 7, 2025 – at PITTSBURGH (7 pm ET)
• Mar. 21, 2025 – at PITTSBURGH (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Pittsburgh

• C Sean Kuraly – 3-4-7 in 24 career GP, including assists in each of his last two home games.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-0-2 in 6 career GP, including goals in each of the past two games at Nationwide Arena.
• C Sean Monahan – 5-5-10 in 22 career GP, including points in three of his last four home games against the club (2-1-3).
• RW Mathieu Olivier – 2-0-2 in 6 career GP, with goals in two-straight meetings against the Penguins.
• D Damon Severson – 3-16-19 in 43 career GP, including assists in the last two contests against the Penguins (0-2-2).
• C Cole Sillinger – 1-3-4 in 10 career GP, including assists in the past two games against the team (1-2-3).
• D Zach Werenski – 3-7-10 in 18 career GP, including assists in three of his past four contests (1-3-4) and four of the last six (1-4-5).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus completed a five-game road trip (from Nov. 2-12) with a 5-2 loss at Seattle on Tuesday.
• CBJ host the Penguins on Friday in their lone home contest over an eight-game stretch from Nov. 2-18.
• The club’s 3.07 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks 16th in the NHL.
• CBJ have scored in 29-of-45 regulation periods this season and have registered 14 multi-goal frames after scoring both of their goals in the first period at Seattle.
• Columbus’ 37 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are the ninth-most in the NHL this season.
• The club has had 17 different goal scorers this season, two shy of St. Louis for the league lead.
• Columbus opened the scoring at Seattle on Tuesday and has scored the first goal in nine (5-3-1) of the 15 games this season.
• CBJ have recorded 40 or more shots on goal in three of the last four games (39.0 shot/GP) and rank fourth in the league in shots on goal for the season, averaging 31.6 shots a game.
• The Blue Jackets’ power play is 4-of-18 on the power play over the last eight games, ranking 11^th-T in the NHL in power play efficiency since Oct. 28 (22.2 pct.).
• CBJ have killed off 24-of-28 opponent power play chances over the last 10 games (85.7 pct.; 6th in NHL since Oct. 22) and 31-of-36 PP chances over the past 13 contests (86.1 pct.; 6^th-T since Oct. 15).
• Columbus plays its second of eight Friday games of the season when it hosts Pittsburgh.
• The club plays in its third of 12 back-to-back sets of the campaign, hosting the Penguins on Friday and visiting the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Zach Aston-Reese collected his first multi-point game as a Jacket at Seattle on Tuesday (1-1-2).  The forward, who made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh and played for the Penguins from 2017-22, has registered 3-3-6 in his first 14 games with Columbus.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has recorded points in two of the past four contests (1-1-2) and ranks third-T on the team in goals, assists and points with 4-6-10 in 15 outings.
• C Adam Fantilli has registered 1-4-5 in the last nine games.
• C Sean Kuraly recorded points on both of the club’s goals at Seattle (1-1-2) for his first multi-point outing of the campaign.
• RW Kevin Labanc registered his first multi-point effort with the Blue Jackets after assisting on both CBJ goals at Seattle and has recorded a point in seven of his 11 games this season (1-7-8).
• RW Kirill Marchenko, who collected points on both of the club’s goals at Anaheim on Sunday (1-1-2), has registered points in six of the last 10 games (4-5-9).  The forward leads the club in goals (tied), assists, points and multi-point efforts with 6-9-15 and five multi-point efforts in 15 contests.  His 50 goals are the most by a Blue Jacket since making his NHL debut in 2022-23.
• G Elvis Merzlikins will become the fifth goaltender to play in 200 games with the Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky, Marc Denis, Steve Mason, Joonas Korpisalo) with his next contest played.  According to NHL Advanced Stats, he ranks fourth among high-danger save percentage in 2024-25 with an .865 SV%, trailing only Cam Talbot (.919), Mackenzie Blackwood (.884) and Pyotr Kochetkov (.875).
• C Sean Monahan is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in points and multi-point outings with 6-5-11 and three multi-point games in 15 contests.  He sits one assist shy from becoming the fourth player from the 2013 NHL Draft to collect 300 career assists, joining Nathan MacKinnon (590), Aleksander Barkov (456) and Elias Lindholm (346).
• RW Mathieu Olivier who ranks 14^th in the NHL in hits this season (50), sits one goal shy of tying his career high (66 GP in 2022-23; 54 GP in 2023-24) with 4-2-6 in 15 contests.
• D Damon Severson is tied for the club lead among blueliners in goals and ranks second in assists (tied) and points with 3-4-7 in 15 games.
• C Cole Sillinger has collected 1-3-4 in the past eight games.  A season after setting a career high in assists (19), he ranks third-T on the club in that category with 2-6-8 in 15 outings.
• D Zach Werenski collected an assist while playing in his 500^th career NHL game at Anaheim on Sunday.  He has posted 1-5-6 in the last 10 games.  He ranks third among NHL blueliners in shots on goal and ninth-T in goals with 3-7-10 and 57 shots in 15 contests this season.  The 27-year-old is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 93-219-312 in 501 games and sits five points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• C Sean Kuraly is five games from 500 for his NHL career (60-81-141, 495 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 11 games from 500 for his NHL career (83-150-233, 489 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is one game from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (70-84-31, 199 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is one assist from 300 for his NHL career (250-299-549, 779 GP).
• D Damon Severson is two points from 300 for his NHL career (70-228-298, 728 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is seven goals from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (93-219-312, 501 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (15 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (12 Games)
• F Kent Johnson (upper body); (11 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 67

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS