By Joe Coopersmith

NOV. 16, 2024 II BELL CENTRE II AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

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)

Canadiens to Watch

• RW Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens and ranks second-T in the NHL in goals with 12-1-13 in 17 outings this season and has posted 23, 26 and 28 goals in his first three full NHL campaigns.
• C Nick Suzuki, who leads the club in assists and points and ranks third in goals with 6-11-17 in 17 appearances, set career highs with 33-44-77 in 82 outings in 2023-24.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 20-16-5 in 41 all-time meetings vs. Montreal, including 10-9-4 on the road.
• Montreal has won the last five contests in the series (CBJ; 0-4-1) following a six-game Blue Jackets win streak from Nov. 19, 2019-Nov. 17, 2022 and eight-game points streak from Mar. 28-2019-Nov. 17, 2022 (7-0-1).
• CBJ have recorded points in five of the last seven games played at Bell Centre dating back to Nov. 12, 2019 (3-2-2).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in three of the last four meetings and eight of the past 11.
• The winning team has also won by multiple goals in six of the last seven games of the series.
• Seven of the past 11 games played at Montreal have been decided by a single goal.
• The Blue Jackets own four of the six shutouts in the all-time series but the Canadiens have earned the most recent two, including Cayden Primeau turning aside all 41 shots in a 3-0 win at Montreal on Mar. 12, 2024 in the teams’ most recent matchup.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 16, 2024 – at MONTREAL (7 pm ET)
• Nov. 27, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7:30 pm ET)
• Dec. 23, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Canadiens

• RW Yegor Chinakhov – 2-1-3 in five career GP, with points in two of his last three games (1-1-2).
• RW Kevin Labanc – 2-7-9 with three multi-point efforts in 11 career GP, including points in four of his last six contests at Bell Centre (2-4-6).
• C Sean Monahan – 10-9-19 with six multi-point efforts in 25 career GP, including points in two of his last three at Montreal (1-1-2) and 4-3-7 in his last eight against the club overall.
• C Cole Sillinger – 3-2-5 in eight career GP, including two multi-point games all-time against MTL.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 19-15-34 with eight multi-point efforts in 47 career GP, including points in each of his last three games against the club overall (1-3-4) and 3-6-9 in his past eight outings vs. Montreal overall as well as assists in each of his last three contests at Bell Centre (2-3-5).
• LW Dmitri Voronkov – 0-2-2 in three career GP, with assists in his first two career appearances against the club.
• D Zach Werenski – 2-8-10 in 18 career GP, including 1-4-5 in his last six played at Montreal.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ defeated the Penguins 6-2 on Friday in their lone home contest over an eight-game stretch from Nov. 2-18.
• It marked the fifth time this season the Blue Jackets have scored six goals in a game (MR: 6-1 W on Oct. 28 vs. Edmonton).
• The club’s 52 goals are tied for the third-most through the first 16 games of a season in franchise history (55, 2021-22), while the 3.25 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks 14th in the NHL.
• Columbus recorded its fifth six-goal game of 2024-25 on Friday, tied with Washington for the second-most among all teams behind Winnipeg (7).  It marks the seventh time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in five or more contests in a campaign.  At 16 games, it’s also the fastest the team recorded five six-goal outings, surpassing the 2018-19 campaign when CBJ reached the mark in the 27th game on their way to finishing with a club-record 11 six-goal outings.
• CBJ scored a goal in all three periods on Friday marking the fifth time the club has accomplished the feat this season.  The team has scored in 32-of-48 regulation periods this season and have registered 16 multi-goal frames.
• Columbus’ 41 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL this season.
• Columbus opened the scoring against Pittsburgh on Friday, has scored first in three of the last four contests and  in 10 (6-3-1) of the 16 games this season.
• CBJ (39 on Friday) have recorded 39 or more shots on goal in four of the last five games (39.0 shot/GP) and rank fourth in the league in shots on goal for the season, averaging 32.1 shots a game.
• Columbus has outshot its opponents in six consecutive games (+73), marking the 10th time in club history it has accomplished the feat (MR: 8-straight from Feb. 4-18, 2020).
• The Blue Jackets’ power play scored a power play goal on Friday (1-of-5) and has registered power play goals in three of the last four contests (3-of-11; 27.3 pct.).  It is also 5-of-23 on the power play over the last nine games, ranking 12^th in the NHL in power play efficiency since Oct. 28 (21.7 pct.).
• CBJ have killed off 32-of-40 opponent PP chances over the past 14 contests (85.0 pct.; 8^th since Oct. 15).
• The team plays its sixth (1-3-1) of 21 Saturday games (11 on the road) during the 2024-25 season when it visits the Canadiens.  CBJ play on seven-straight Saturdays from Oct. 12-Nov. 23 to begin the campaign.
• The club completes its third of 12 back-to-back sets of the campaign at Montreal tonight.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• The Blue Jackets had 15 players find the scoresheet on Friday against Pittsburgh, marking the second-most unique scorers in a game for the club behind 16 players recorded in a 10-0 win over Montreal on Nov. 4, 2016.
• RW Zach Aston-Reese has notched a goal in two consecutive games (2-1-3) after opening the scoring on Friday.  It’s one contest shy of his career high (3g; Feb. 11-16, 2021).  The forward has registered 4-3-7 in his first 15 games with Columbus.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov collected an assist on Friday and has recorded points in three of the past five contests (1-2-3).  He ranks fourth-T on the team in goals, assists and points with 4-7-11 in 16 outings.
• C Adam Fantilli picked up an assist against the Penguins and has registered 1-5-6 in the last 10 games.
• RW Kevin Labanc has registered assists in consecutive games (0-3-3), including his first multi-point effort with the club at Seattle on Tuesday (0-2-2).  He has recorded a point in eight of his 12 games this season and ranks second-T on the team in assists with 1-8-9.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected points in seven of the last 11 games (4-6-10) after picking up an assist on Friday.  The forward leads the club in goals (tied), assists, points and multi-point efforts with 6-10-16 and five multi-point efforts in 16 contests.  His 50 career goals are the most by a Blue Jacket since making his NHL debut in 2022-23.
• G Elvis Merzlikins stopped 21-of-23 shots to pick up the win in his 200^th career game on Friday against Pittsburgh.  He is the fifth goaltender to play in 200 games with the Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky, Marc Denis, Steve Mason, Joonas Korpisalo).  According to NHL Advanced Stats, he ranks third among high-danger save percentage in 2024-25 with an .865 SV%, trailing only Cam Talbot (.919) and Pyotr Kochetkov (.875).
• C Sean Monahan collected two assists on Friday for his second multi-assist game and fourth multi-point effort as a Blue Jacket.  He became the fifth player from the 2013 NHL Draft to collect 300 career assists, joining Nathan MacKinnon (590), Aleksander Barkov (457), Elias Lindholm (346) and Seth Jones (323), with his first assist of the game.  He is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in points and multi-point outings with 6-7-13 in 16 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier notched his fourth career game-winning goal on Friday and  tied his single-season career high in goals (66 GP in 2022-23; 54 GP in 2023-24) with 5-2-7 in 16 contests.  He ranks ninth-T in the NHL in hits this season (55).
• D Damon Severson notched a goal on Friday and is tied for the club lead among blueliners in goals and ranks second in points with 4-4-8 in 16 games.
• C Cole Sillinger recorded a goal against the Penguins and has collected 2-3-5 in the past nine games.  A season after setting a career high in assists (19), he has collected 3-6-9 in 16 outings.
• D Zach Werenski, who recorded 1-1-2 against the Penguins on Friday for his third multi-point game of the season, has posted 2-6-8 in the last 11 games.  He ranks second among NHL skaters in TOI/GP and ranks second-T among blueliners in goals and third in shots on goal with 4-8-12, 61 shots and 25:32 TOI in 16 contests this season.  The 27-year-old is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 94-220-314 in 502 games and sits three points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• C Sean Kuraly is four games from 500 for his NHL career (60-81-141, 496 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 10 games from 500 for his NHL career (83-151-234, 490 GP).
• D Damon Severson is one point from 300 for his NHL career (71-228-299, 730 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is six goals from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (94-220-314, 502 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (16 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (13 Games)
• F Kent Johnson (upper body); (12 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 70

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS