By Joe Coopersmith

DEC. 17, 2024 II AMALIE ARENA II AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

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)

Lightning to Watch

• RW Nikita Kucherov, who has racked up 2-10-12 over a four-game points streak, is third in the NHL in assists and points (tied) with 22-25-47 in 30 games has totaled 13-30-43 in 28 career contests against the Blue Jackets.
• C Brayden Point has notched 4-11-15 during a five-game points streak, ranks third in the league in goals in 2024-25 with 20-16-36 in 24 outings and has totaled 15-14-29 in 27 career outings against CBJ.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 16-27-7 in 50 all-time games against the Lightning, including 5-15-4 on the road.
• The teams combined for a series-high 13 goals in the last meeting, a 7-6 OT win for Columbus on Nov. 21.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 11-straight meetings and 13 of the last 14 games of the series.
• The Jackets have recorded power play goals in the past three games against the Lightning (3-of-6; 50.0 pct.).
• The teams have combined for 70-plus shots on goal in three of the past five games of the all-time series.
• Columbus has recorded two shutouts in the all-time series with Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElinney combining for 26 saves in a 1-0 win at Nationwide Arena on Dec. 3, 2013 in the most recent occurrence.
• CBJ are still looking for their first hat trick and penalty shot attempt in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 1-0-0)

• Nov. 21, 2024 – at CBJ 7, TBL 6 (OT)
• Dec. 17, 2024 – at TAMPA BAY (7 pm ET)
• Mar. 4, 2025 – at TAMPA BAY (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Lightning

• F Kent Johnson – 2-2-4 in 8 career GP, including two goals in the last game between the clubs on Nov. 21.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 5-3-8 in 6 career GP, recording points in all six games and goals in all three contests played at Amalie Arena (4-0-4).
• C Sean Monahan – 8-7-15 in 18 career GP, including 1-3-4 in the first game of the season series and points in 10 of his 12 against the club overall (7-7-14) as well as points in five of his past six at Tampa Bay (4-2-6).
• D Ivan Provorov – 4-7-11 in 21 career GP, including an assist in the first contest of the season series.
• D Damon Severson – 4-10-14 in 26 career GP, with assists in two-straight (0-2-2) and five of his last six (0-5-5) and points in seven of his last nine (2-6-8) as well as assists in his last three played at Amalie Arena (1-3-4).
• C Cole Sillinger – 1-5-6 in 10 career GP, including assists in two-straight (0-3-3) and four of the last six (0-5-5) after collecting two assists on Nov. 21.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 18-14-32 with eight multi-point efforts in 45 career GP, including 6-4-10 with two multi-point efforts in his last 11 contests at Tampa Bay.
• F Dmitri Voronkov – 1-2-3 in 4 career GP, including 1-1-2 in the first meeting of the season series on Nov. 21.
• D Zach Werenski – 6-12-18 in 22 career GP, who set a single-game franchise record for points by a defenseman in the last meeting on Nov. 21 (2-3-5), with assists in four-straight games (2-6-8) and points in 10 of his last 11 games (5-10-15) as well as assists in each of his last four played at Amalie Arena (1-4-5).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus began a stretch of three-of-four games played on the road with a 4-1 loss at Carolina on Sunday.  The club also plays at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Philadelphia on Dec. 21 with a home game against New Jersey on Dec. 19.
• CBJ have earned points in three of the last five games (1-2-2) and 10 of the last 16 games (7-6-3, 17 points).
• The Jackets are in a stretch of nine-of-13 games played at Nationwide Arena from Dec. 10-Jan. 4.
• CBJ are 3-4-0 on the road in the last seven road contests since Nov. 18, defeating Boston, Chicago and Winnipeg over that stretch.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in seven of its first 31 games this season.  It’s tied for the second-most games among all teams (Florida & Washington), trailing only Winnipeg (9).  It’s the fifth time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in seven 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 100 goals (not including SO goals) are the third-most through the first 31 games of a season in franchise history, trailing only the 106 goals recorded to start the 2016-17 and 2018-19 campaigns.
• Columbus’ 3.23 goals-for/game in 2024-25 is tied with Edmonton for the 10th-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The Jackets have scored in 62-of-93 periods in regulation this season.  The club has also registered 28 multi-goal frames, including 12 multi-goal first periods.
• Columbus’ 72 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are tied with Tampa Bay for the third-most in the NHL this season, trailing only Washington (77) and Vegas (75).
• The Jackets, who have scored the first goal of the game in 10 of the last 19 contests, have scored first in 17 (9-5-3) of the first 31 games this season.
• The Blue Jackets play 11-of-12 games against the Eastern Conference from Dec. 10-Jan. 2 (Dec. 14 vs. ANA).  The club is also in a stretch of 4-of-6 contests played against Metropolitan Division foes from Dec. 10-19 (PHI-2, CAR-1, NJD-1).
• CBJ have recorded power play goals in four of the last five games (4-of-16; 25.0 pct.), ranking 11th-T in the league in PP percentage since Dec. 8.
• Columbus plays its seventh (1-4-5) of 17 Tuesday games when it visits Tampa Bay.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ leads the league in goals and goal percentage by defensemen and rank third in points percentage and fifth in points with 21-54-75, 21.0 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.1 pct. of the team’s points in 31 contests.
• F Kent Johnson had his three-game assists streak (1-3-4) and four-game points streak (3-3-6, two multi-point efforts) snapped on Sunday.  He has recorded points in 13 of his first 17 games this season (9-9-18).
• RW Kirill Marchenko collected an assist on the club’s lone goal on Sunday and has picked up points in five of the last six contests (1-4-5) and recorded 5-8-13 in the last 13 games since Nov. 21.  The forward leads the club in goals and multi-point efforts and ranks second in assists and points with 11-18-29 and eight multi-point outings in 31 contests.  He is already one assist shy of tying his single-season career high (19, 2023-24).
• C Sean Monahan has picked up 3-11-14 with four multi-point efforts in his last 16 games.  The forward ranks second-T on the club in multi-point outings and third in goals (tied), assists and points with 9-16-25 and seven multi-point outings in 31 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier has already set a single-season career high in goals and ranks third in the NHL in penalty minutes and sixth in hits with 8-4-12, 56 PIM and 111 hits in 31 games.  He is one of three players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk and Utah’s Jack McBain) with five-plus goals, 40 PIM and 80 hits in 2024-25.
• D Damon Severson has collected points in four of the last seven games (2-2-4) and has registered 2-7-9 in the last 13 contests dating back to Nov. 21.  He ranks ninth-T among NHL defensemen in goals and second among club blueliners in goals, assists and points with 6-11-17 in 31 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger has recorded 3-8-11 in his last 15 contests since Nov. 15.   A season after setting a single-season career high in assists (19), he ranks fourth on the club in assists and points with 5-14-19 in his first 30 outings.
• LW James van Riemsdyk has collected 1-3-4 in the past five contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov notched Columbus’ lone goal on Sunday and has recorded 7-5-12 with three multi-point efforts in his last 16 games.
• D Zach Werenski had registered power play points in four consecutive games (2-2-4) prior to Sunday’s contest at Carolina.  He has recorded points in 14 of the past 18 games (7-15-22).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native, who was named to Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Dec. 4, leads the NHL in TOI/GP and league blueliners in goals and shots on goal while ranking third in points and sixth-T in assists with 10-21-31 and 112 shots on 26:15 of ice time in 31 contests this season.  With 100-233-333 in 517 games played, he’s passed Rostislav Klesla (515 GP) for third on the club’s all-time games played list for defensemen, became the first blueliner – and eighth player – in CBJ history with 100 career goals (Dec. 12) and now sits one point shy of tying Nick Foligno (334 points in 599 GP) for fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is 10 points from 100 for his NHL career (46-44-90, 340 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is four points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (55-41-96, 168 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is five games from 800 for his NHL career (253-310-563, 795 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is one game from 200 for his NHL career (21-25-46, 199 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is seven points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (37-56-93, 250 GP).
• F Dmitri Voronkov is three games from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (26-21-47, 97 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (31 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (28 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (10 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 117

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS