By Joe Coopersmith

DEC. 21, 2024 II WELLS FARGO CENTER II AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

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)

Flyers to Watch

• RW Travis Konecny leads the Flyers in goals, assists and points with 16-21-37 in 33 contests and has registered 17-15-32 in 27 career games against the Blue Jackets, including two goals in the first meeting on Dec. 10.
• RW Matvei Michkov leads NHL rookies in goals (tied) and points and ranks second in assists with 11-16-27 in 31 outings and registered two assists in the first game of the season series on Dec. 10

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 27-19-6 in 52 all-time games against the Flyers, including 11-13-2 on the road.
• CBJ have recorded points in four of the last six games played at Philadelphia (3-2-1).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 10 of the last 11 meetings of the series overall since Apr. 5, 2022 and nine of the past 11 at Wells Fargo Center dating back to Mar. 15, 2018.
• The teams have played past regulation in 12 of the 26 games in the all-time series (9 OT, 3 SO).
• The teams have combined for seven-plus goals in seven of the last nine meetings of the series since Nov. 10, 2022.
• The winning team has won by multiple goals in four of the last five contests of the series.
• CBJ have recorded three of the five shutouts (MR: Bobrovsky, 36 saves in 1-0 W at CBJ on Mar. 25, 2017) and the lone hat trick (Atkinson, 3 goals in 5-3 W at PHI on Mar. 15, 2018) in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Dec. 10, 2024 – PHI 5, at CBJ 3
• Dec. 21, 2024 – at Philadelphia (7 pm ET)
• Jan. 14, 2025 – at Columbus (7 pm ET)
• Apr. 15, 2025 – at Philadelphia (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Flyers

• LW Zach Aston-Reese – 5-3-8 in 19 career GP, including goals in his last two games at Wells Fargo Center and points in three of his last four road contests (2-1-3).
• C Adam Fantilli – 0-2-2 in 4 career GP, including an assist in his last contest at Philadelphia on Jan. 4, 2024.
• F Kent Johnson – 2-2-4 in 5 career GP, including 1-1-2 in the first meeting of the season series on Dec. 10.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 3-10-13 in 11 career GP, including assists in two of the last three games (1-2-3).
• C Sean Monahan – 13-5-18 in 20 career GP, including points in four of his last six contests (3-2-5) after scoring a goal in Dec. 10 meeting.
• D Damon Severson – 10-11-21 in 43 career GP, including points in three-straight games (3-1-4) as well as a goal in his last outing at Philadelphia.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 6-5-11 in 18 career GP, including an assist in the first meeting of the season series.
• D Zach Werenski – 6-9-15 in 22 career GP, including goals in two-straight meetings (3-1-4) and 4-3-7 in his past seven outings as well as 2-5-7 in 10 career games at Philadelphia.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus closes out a stretch of three-of-four games played away from Nationwide Arena on Saturday at Philadelphia.  The Jackets earned a 4-2 victory over the Metropolitan Division-leading Devils in the lone home game on Thursday.
• The Blue Jackets’ 3.24 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks as the 10th-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The club’s 107 goals (not including SO goals) are the third-most through the first 33 games of a season in franchise history, trailing only 2016-17 (112) and 2018-19 (108).
• The Blue Jackets have scored in 66-of-99 periods in regulation this season after scoring in all three periods against the Devils on Thursday.  CBJ have scored in all three periods in regulation 12 times this season, including nine at home.
• The club has also registered 30 multi-goal frames after scoring two of their four goals against New Jersey on Thursday in the second period.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in seven of its first 33 games this season.  It’s tied for the third-most games among all teams (Washington), trailing only Florida and Winnipeg (9 each).  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.
• Columbus’ 76 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL this season (Florida), trailing only Washington (80), Tampa Bay (78) and Vegas (77).
• The Jackets scored the first three goals of the game on Thursday and have scored first in 18 (10-5-3) of the first 33 contests 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 will close out a stretch of 4-of-6 contests played against Metropolitan Division foes at Philadelphia on Saturday.
• CBJ finished 1-of-2 on the power play on Thursday and have recorded power play goals in six of the last seven games (6-of-23; 26.1 pct.), ranking sixth in the league in PP percentage since Dec. 8.
• The Jackets’ 34 first period goals are the fourth-most in the NHL and 39 third period goals are tied for eighth-most.
• Columbus plays its ninth (2-4-2) of 21 Saturday games when it visits Philadelphia.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners scored two of the club’s four goals on Thursday and lead the league in goals and goal percentage by defensemen and rank third in points percentage and fifth in points with 23-54-77, 21.5 pct. of the club’s goals and 27.1 pct. of the team’s points in 33 contests.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded points in 13 of his first 19 games this season (9-9-18) and has already surpassed his season totals from 2023-24 in goals and points (6-10-16, 42 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected two assists in each of his last two games and has registered points in four-straight (1-5-6) as well as seven of the last eight contests (1-8-9).  He has also recorded 5-12-17 in the last 15 games since Nov. 21.  He notched his 100^th career point (55-45-100, 170 GP) on his second assist against New Jersey on Thursday, requiring the fourth-fewest games by a Blue Jackets player to reach the milestone (Pierre-Luc Dubois, 142 GP; Nikolai Zherdev, 150 GP; Rick Nash, 164 GP).  Marchenko leads the club in goals (tied), assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts with 11-22-33, six multi-assist and 10 multi-point outings in 33 contests.  He has already surpassed his single-season career high in assists (19, 2023-24).
• G Elvis Merzlikins made a season-high 40 saves on 42 shots faced in Thursday’s win over New Jersey, turning aside 30 or more shots for the fourth time this season (3-1-0 record).
• C Sean Monahan notched his third game of three or more points this season with 2-1-3 on Thursday against New Jersey.  He has picked up 5-12-17 with five multi-point efforts in his last 18 games.  The forward is tied for the team lead in goals and multi-goal games (2) and ranks second in multi-point outings and third in assists and points with 11-17-28 and eight multi-point outings in 33 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier collected an assist on Thursday and has 0-2-2 in his last four games.  He has already set a single-season career high in goals and ranks third in the NHL in penalty minutes and sixth in hits with 8-5-13, 60 PIM and 118 hits in 33 games.  He is one of two players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk and Utah’s Jack McBain) with five-plus goals, 50 PIM and 80 hits in 2024-25.
• D Damon Severson has registered 2-7-9 in the last 15 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 33 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger has notched goals in two of the last four games and has recorded 4-8-12 in his last 17 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 6-14-20 in his first 32 outings.
• F Dmitri Voronkov has recorded points in three consecutive games (1-2-3) and has registered 7-7-14 with three multi-point efforts in his last 18 contests.
• D Zach Werenski notched a power play goal on Thursday and has registered power play points in five of the last seven contests (3-2-5).  He has also recorded points in 15 of the past 20 games (8-15-23).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native 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 11-21-32 and 115 shots on 26:24 of ice time in 33 contests this season.  He notched his 334^th career point (100-234-334, 519 GP) with the PPG on Thursday, tying Nick Foligno (334 points in 599 GP) for fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list.  He ranks fifth-T among all NHL blueliners in goals and third among American defensemen in PPG (25) since making his NHL debut in 2016-17.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is nine points from 100 for his NHL career (46-45-91, 342 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is three games from 800 for his NHL career (255-311-566, 797 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is six points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (38-56-94, 252 GP).
• F Dmitri Voronkov is one game from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (26-23-49, 99 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (33 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (30 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (12 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); (5 Games)
• D Dante Fabbro (lower body); (1 Game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 127

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS