By Joe Coopersmith

NOV. 29, 2024 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS CALGARY FLAMES

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)

Flames to Watch

• D MacKenzie Weegar, who has collected assists in four of the last six contests (0-6-6), leads the Flames in assists and points (tied) with 3-10-13 in 23 games this season.
• G Dustin Wolf is 8-3-1 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% in 12 appearances, ranking sixth among league netminders in save percentage (min. 10 GP).

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 35-24-8 in 67 all-time meetings vs. Calgary, including 20-10-4 at home.
• CBJ have won two-straight home games and have collected points in four consecutive outings in the series dating back to Dec. 9, 2022 (3-0-1).
• The winning team has won by multiple goals in five-straight at Nationwide Arena and seven of the last eight played in Ohio dating back to Jan. 21, 2016.
• The teams have combined for four or less goals in three of the past four played in Ohio with CBJ earning 3-1 wins in the last two home contests.
• The Jackets have killed off all 20 Flames power play chances over the last nine meetings overall since Nov. 2, 2019, including 12 consecutive in the past four played at Nationwide Arena.
• CBJ have earned five shutouts (MR: Bobrovsky, 22 saves in 1-0 OT win at Columbus on Nov. 22, 2017), three hat tricks (MR: Atkinson on Dec. 4, 2018) and three penalty shots (MR: Gaudreau, Jan. 23, 2023 at Calgary) in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 29, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (3 pm ET)
• Dec. 3, 2024 – at CALGARY (9 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Flames

• RW Yegor Chinakhov – 1-2-3 in 4 career GP, has recorded assists in each of his last two games against the club (1-2-3).
• F Justin Danforth – 1-1-2 in 2 career GP, recording his points in his lone career home contest on Oct. 20, 2023.
• C Adam Fantilli – 1-1-2 in 2 career GP, notching a multi-point outing in the teams’ last meeting on Jan. 25, 2024 at Calgary.
• C Sean Kuraly – 2-3-5 in 12 career GP, including points in both games of the 2023-24 series (1-1-2) and points in five of his last seven appearances (2-3-5) as well as goals in his last two home contests (2-0-2) and points in three of his last four home outings (2-1-3).
• C Sean Monahan – 3-3-6 with two multi-point efforts in 4 career GP, including points in his last two outings (3-1-4) with a hat trick on Feb. 19, 2024 at Calgary.
• D Ivan Provorov – 1-5-6 in 14 career GP, including assists in four of his last six home games against the team (1-4-5).
• D Zach Werenski – 4-5-9 with three multi-point efforts in 12 career GP, including assists in two-straight (1-2-3) and points in each of his last three appearances (2-2-4).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ stretched their points streak to four-straight (3-0-1) after picking up a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal on Wednesday.  The club is also 4-1-1 in its last six games this season.
• The Jackets close out a four-game homestand (2-0-1) on Friday against the Flames.  CBJ have recorded points in four-straight home games (3-0-1) and are 6-1-1 in the last eight games played at Nationwide Arena, outscoring their opponents 36-25 over that stretch (not including SO goals).
• The Jackets rank third in the NHL in points percentage at home since Oct. 22 (.813), trailing only Carolina (8-0-0, 1.000) and Winnipeg (5-1-0, .833).
• The club is 7-3-1 (15 points) at Nationwide Arena this season, tying for the second-most points through the first 11 home games of a season (2003-04, 2009-10, 2016-17) and one off the franchise record (8-3-0, 2021-22).
• The Jackets have recorded six or more goals in four of the last eight home contests, including a season-high seven in a 7-6 OT win over Tampa Bay on Nov. 21.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in six of its first 21 games this season.  It’s tied for the second-most games among all teams (Washington), trailing only Winnipeg (8).  It’s the sixth time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in six or more contests in a campaign.  The club set a franchise mark with 11 games of six or more goals in 2018-19.
• The club’s 72 goals (not including SO goals) are the most through the first 21 games of a season in franchise history, surpassing the 71 recorded in the first 21 contests of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Columbus’ 3.43 goals-for/game in 2024-25 is tied for the sixth-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The Jackets have averaged 4.18 goals-for/game at Nationwide Arena this season, posting the fourth-highest average and trailing only Vegas (4.70), Carolina (4.60) and Winnipeg (4.30).
• CBJ scored goals in all three regulation periods in Wednesday’s contest.  The team has scored in 10-consecutive periods in regulation, as well as 12-straight regulation periods at home.  The Jackets have scored in 44-of-63 periods in regulation this season and have registered 20 multi-goal frames.
• Columbus’ 54 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are the fourth-most in the NHL this season, trailing only Washington (64), Vegas (61) and Carolina (55).
• The Jackets, who have scored the first goal of the game in six of the last nine contests, have scored first in 13 (8-3-2) of the first 21 games this season.
• CBJ lead the NHL in shots/game since Nov. 5, averaging 34.8 shots in the last 10 games.  The club ranks third in the league in shots on goal for the season, averaging 31.7 shots a game.
• The club recorded shorthanded goals in back-to-back games from Nov. 18-21, including tying a franchise record (sixth time) with two shorthanded goals at Boston on Nov. 18.  CBJ’s four shorthanded goals in 2024-25 trail only Florida (6) for the league lead.
• The team kicks off a stretch of six-straight against the Western Conference from Nov. 29-Dec. 8 with Friday’s matinee game against the Flames.
• CBJ are 11-7-1 in games played on the day after Thanksgiving in franchise history and are 9-2-0 in the last 11 Black Friday contests dating back to the 2011 campaign.  The club is 7-2-0 in its last nine Black Friday outings at Nationwide Arena.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• RW Kirill Marchenko (8-12-20), C Sean Monahan (7-13-20) and D Zach Werenski (7-15-22) each recorded 20 points in the first 20 gams this season, marking the first time in franchise history that three players have posted 20-plus points in the first 20 games of a campaign.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has notched goals in three of his last four games and has recorded points in four of the past six contests (3-1-4) after scoring on Wednesday vs. Montreal.  He ranks second-T on the team in goals and fourth in points with 7-7-14 in 21 outings.
• F Kent Johnson registered an assist on Wednesday and has collected points in three consecutive games (2-3-5) after a 14-game absence due to an upper body injury.  He has also recorded points in all seven of his outings in 2024-25 (4-6-10).
• RW Kevin Labanc has recorded a point in nine of his 16 games this season and ranks fourth-T on the team in assists with 1-9-10.
• RW Kirill Marchenko collected his team-leading seventh multi-point outing with two goals against Carolina.  The forward also leads the club in goals and ranks second-T in points and third in assists with 8-12-20 in 21 contests.  His 52 career goals are the most by a Blue Jacket since making his NHL debut in 2022-23.
• G Elvis Merzlikins has picked up points in five-straight games played (4-0-1) dating back to Nov. 15 vs. Pittsburgh.
• C Sean Monahan had registered assists in three-straight games (1-6-7) prior to Wednesday’s contest against the Canadiens.  He has picked up points in four of the last six contests (1-8-9) with three multi-assist efforts.  The forward leads the club in multi-assist efforts and ranks second in goals (tied), assists, points (tied) and multi-point outings with 7-13-20, four multi-assist and six multi-point outings in 21 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier notched a goal on Wednesday and has collected points in four of his last six contests (3-1-4).  He’s tied for eighth in the league in GWG, ninth-T in penalty minutes and 10th-T in hits and has already set a single-season career high in goals with 7-3-10, 35 PIM, three GWG and 72 hits in 21 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger has collected 1-3-4 in the last six games, including his second multi-assist effort of the campaign with two assists on Nov. 21 vs. Tampa Bay.  A season after setting a single-season career high in assists (19), he has collected 3-9-12 in the first 20 outings.
• F Dmitri Voronkov, who collected an assist on Wednesday, has recently set career highs with a three-game goal streak from Nov. 18-23 and now has a career-high four-game points streak (3-2-5).  He has notched points in five of the last six games (4-3-7, two multi-point efforts).
• D Zach Werenski recorded his second career Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight; Apr. 12, 2019 at Tampa Bay in Stanley Cup Playoffs) on Wednesday.  He has recorded assists in six consecutive games (4-8-12) and seven of the past eight (4-9-13), tied for the longest streak by a defenseman in franchise history (Bryan Berard, 6 games from Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 2005).  He was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week ending Nov. 24 after leading league blueliners and tied for first among all skaters in scoring with 2-5-7 in three contests.  He leads the NHL in TOI/GP and ranks second-T among league blueliners in goals and shots on goal and third in points with 7-15-22 and 79 shots on 26:00 of ice time in 21 contests this season.  With 4-10-14 in the first 12 games of November, he’s tied the club record for most points by a defenseman in a single month in club history (Werenski, 3-11-14 in Mar. 2024; Jones; 7-7-14 in Mar. 2018) and one assist from tying his own team record posted in Nov. 2023 and equaled in Mar. 2024.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• RW Kevin Labanc is six games from 500 for his NHL career (83-152-235, 494 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is 13 points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (52-35-87, 158 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is 15 games from 800 for his NHL career (251-307-558, 785 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is 11 games from 200 for his NHL career (20-24-44, 189 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is 10 games from 250 and 14 points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (35-51-86, 240 GP).
• F Dmitri Voronkov is 13 games from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (23-19-42, 87 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is three goals from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (97-227-324, 507 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (21 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (18 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); (1 Game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 83

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