By Joe Coopersmith

DEC. 28, 2024 II TD GARDEN II AT BOSTON BRUINS

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

Bruins to Watch

• LW Brad Marchand, who has recorded points in 11-straight games (7-7-14), leads the Bruins in goals and ranks second in points with 15-16-31 in 37 contests and has totaled 14-16-30 in 31 career games against CBJ.
• RW David Pastrnak leads the Bruins in assists and points with 12-24-36 in 37 outings in 2024-25 and has registered 8-13-21 in 24 career contests against the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 17-16-10 in 43 all-time meetings vs. Boston, including 7-8-5 on the road.
• The Blue Jackets have won two consecutive and picked up points in four of the last six meetings (3-2-1) since Mar. 30, 2023.
• CBJ have won the first two games of the season series, marking the fourth time in franchise history the club has won two contests in a season series (2-0-1 in 2014-15, 2-1-0 in 2017-18 and 2-0-0 in 2019-20).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in six of the last eight meetings as well as won by multiple goals in eight of the last 10 games of the series.
• The teams have combined for less than 60 shots on goal in five of the past six meetings, including four-straight after combining for 58 shots on Friday.

This Season (CBJ, 2-0-0)

• Nov. 18, 2024 – CBJ 5, at BOS 1
• Dec. 27, 2024 – at CBJ 6, BOS 2
• Dec. 28, 2024 – at Boston (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Bruins

• G Elvis Merzlikins – 4-2-2 with a 2.33 GAA and .929 SV% in 8 career GP, including stopping 52-of-55 shots faced (.946 SV%) in the first two games of the season series.
• C Sean Monahan – 6-11-17 with five multi-point efforts in 20 career GP, including multiple points in each of his last three games (2-5-7) after scoring twice on Friday.
• D Ivan Provorov – 1-14-15 with three multi-point efforts in 31 career GP after recording an assist on Friday.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 19-19-38 with 10 multi-point efforts in 51 career GP, including a goal in the last game at TD Garden on Nov. 18.
• D Zach Werenski – 3-11-14 in 18 career GP, including assists in his last three outings against the club (0-6-6) after tying his single-game career high of four assists on Friday.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus has recorded points in four consecutive games (3-0-1) after earning a 6-2 win over Boston on Friday in the first game following the NHL’s holiday break.
• CBJ have won three-straight home games and recorded points in 13 of their last 15 home games (10-2-3; .767 points pct), leading the NHL in goals-for at home (4.20) and ranking second in power play pct. (33.3) and fourth in points pct. since Oct. 22.
• The Blue Jackets’ 3.39 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks as the seventh-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The club’s 122 goals (not including SO goals) are the second-most through the first 36 games of a season in franchise history, trailing only 2016-17 (124).
• The Blue Jackets scored in all three periods in regulation in each of the last four games and have scored in 75-of-108 periods in regulation this season.  CBJ have scored in all three periods in a game 15 times this season, including 11 occasions at home.
• The club has also registered 34 multi-goal frames after scoring four of its six goals in the second period against Boston on Friday.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in eight of its first 36 games this season after scoring six on Friday.  It’s the third-most games among all teams, one behind the league leaders (Florida and Winnipeg).  It’s the fourth time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in eight or more contests in a campaign.  The club set a franchise mark with 11 games of six or more goals in 2018-19, while recording six-plus goals nine times in 2021-22 and on eight occasions in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• Columbus recorded three of its six goals on Friday at even strength and is tied for the league lead with Vegas with 87 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season.
• The Jackets have scored first in each of the last four games and have scored first in 21 (12-5-4) of the first 36 contests this season.
• The Blue Jackets are in a stretch of 11-of-12 games against the Eastern Conference from Dec. 10-Jan. 2 (Dec. 14 vs. ANA).  Columbus concludes a stretch of three-straight games this week against the Atlantic Division.
• Columbus concludes its first of four home-and-home series at Boston on Saturday.  The club also plays Detroit (Feb. 27-Mar. 1), Ottawa (Apr. 6-8) and Washington (Apr. 12-13) in home-and-home series.
• The Jackets also conclude their sixth of 12 back-to-back sets of the campaign – and third and final set of December – on Saturday at Boston.
• CBJ scored multiple power play goals for the first time this season, while finishing with three power play goals for the 40th time in franchise history (MR: Feb. 23, 2021 vs. Chicago) on Friday.  It was the first time that the club finished a game perfect on the man advantage with three or more attempts.  The Jackets have now recorded a PPG in eight of the last 10 games (10-of-30; 33.3 pct.), ranking third-T in the league in PP percentage since Dec. 8.
• Columbus has allowed one power play goal over the last eight games, killing off 14-of-15 opponent opportunities since Dec. 12 (93.3 pct., 4th-T in NHL).
• The Jackets’ 38 first period goals are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL and 44 third period goals are tied for sixth-most.
• Columbus plays its 10th (2-4-3) of 21 Saturday games this season when it visits Boston.  The club has recorded points in three-straight contests played on Saturdays (1-0-2).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners combined for seven assists on Friday and have posted 4-11-15 in the last four games.  The team leads the league in goals by defensemen and ranks second in points and goal percentage and third in points percentage with 25-65-90, 20.5 pct. of the club’s goals and 27.7 pct. of the team’s points in 36 contests.
• F Kent Johnson has notched points in two-straight games (1-2-3) after collecting an assist on Friday.  He has recorded points in 16 of his first 22 games this season (10-11-21) and has already surpassed his season totals from 2023-24 (6-10-16, 42 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his second consecutive 1-2-3 outing on Friday for his team-leading fourth three-point outing of the campaign.  He has registered points in a career-best seven-straight games (4-9-13) and has recorded points in 10 of the last 11 contests (4-12-16) and has 8-16-24 in the last 18 games since Nov. 21.  He leads the club in goals, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts with 14-26-40, eight multi-assist and 12 multi-point efforts in 36 contests.  He’s already set a single-season career high in assists and is two points from tying his career high (42, 2023-24).  The forward has posted 5-12-17 in 14 December games and sits one assist (2x, MR: Johnny Gaudreau, 13 in 2022) and point (2x, MR: Artemi Panarin, 5-13-18 in 2017) for the most in the month in franchise history.
• C Sean Monahan notched his second consecutive multi-point effort and third in his last four games (4-4-8) with two goals on Friday.  He has picked up 7-15-22 with seven multi-point efforts in his last 21games.  The forward leads the team in multi-goal games (3) and ranks second in goals and multi-point outings and third in assists and points with 13-20-33 and 10 multi-point outings in 36 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier has recorded points in four of the last seven contests (1-3-4).  He has already set single-season career highs in goals and points (tied, 2022-23) and ranks third in the NHL in penalty minutes and fourth in hits with 9-6-15, 62 PIM and 130 hits in 36 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with five-plus goals, 50 PIM and 80 hits in 2024-25.
• C Cole Sillinger has recorded 4-8-12 in his last 20 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 sixth in points with 6-14-20 in his first 35 outings.
• F Dmitri Voronkov collected his third-straight multi-point outing (4-3-7) and first three-point outing with 2-1-3 on Friday vs. Boston.  He has recorded points in six consecutive games (5-5-10), tying his career long set earlier this season from Nov. 18-Dec. 1 (4-4-8).  He has registered 11-10-21 with six multi-point efforts in his last 21 contests after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.  He’s registered 7-5-12 in 14 contests this month, two shy of tying the club record for December set by Cam Atkinson (Dec. 2016).
• D Zach Werenski tied his own franchise record for assists by a defenseman in a game (Nov. 22, 2023 vs. Chicago) with four helpers on Friday against Boston.  He also became the second player (Seth Jones, 1-6-7 from Mar. 31-Apr. 3, 2018) with three or more assists in back-to-back games (0-7-7).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP and ranks fifth in shots on goal as well as leads league blueliners in goals (tied) and shots on goal, while ranking third in points and fourth in assists with 11-28-39 and 130 shots on 26:21 of ice time in 36 contests this season.  He has registered 3-12-15 in 14 December games and has already set the club record for most assists by a blueliner in a single month and sits one point shy of tying the record he set last month most points by a defenseman (5-11-16 in 13 GP).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is nine points from 100 for his NHL career (46-45-91, 345 GP).
• C Adam Fantilli is 15 games from 100 for his NHL career (19-23-42, 85 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is 10 assists from 200 for his NHL career (73-190-263, 650 GP).
• D Damon Severson is one game from 750 for his NHL career (73-235-308, 749 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is six points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (38-56-94, 255 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (36 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (33 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (15 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 10 (8 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 141

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS