By Joe Coopersmith

JAN. 16, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. SAN JOSE SHARKS

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 Bus

Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

Sharks to Watch

• 2024 first overall pick C Macklin Celebrini, who has collected assists in two-straight games (0-3-3), leads league rookies in goals (tied) and points-per-game (.91, min. 5 GP) and ranks second-T in assists and points with 13-18-31 in 34 contests.
• C Mikael Granlund has posted 12-25-37 in the first 44 games of 2024-25, leading the Sharks in assists and points and has totaled 4-12-16 in 27 career contests against the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 28-34-6 in 68 all-time meetings vs. the Sharks, including 18-13-3 at home.
• CBJ have collected points in five-straight games against the Sharks (4-0-1) after picking up a point in a 2-1 overtime loss in the first meeting of the season series on Nov. 5.
• Columbus has won five of the last seven games vs. San Jose in the all-time series since Dec. 5, 2021 and scored four or more goals in each of the victories.
• The Jackets have won three-straight home games in the series and four of the last five at Nationwide Arena since Feb. 23, 2019.
• The winning team has scored four-plus goals in four of the last five meetings and eight of the last 12 since Mar. 4, 2018.
• The Blue Jackets own half of the shutouts (6-of-12; MR: Bobrovsky, 26 saves in 4-0 W at CBJ on Feb. 23, 2019), hat tricks (3-of-6; MR: Carter in 6-3 W at CBJ on Feb. 21, 2012) and penalty shot attempts (2-of-4; MR: Nash unsuccessful attempt in 2-1 OTL on Feb. 8, 2008 at SJS).

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-1)

• Nov. 5, 2024 – at SJS 2, CBJ 1 (OT)
• Jan. 16, 2025 – at Columbus (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Sharks

• D Dante Fabbro – 1-5-6 in 11 career GP, including assists in his last two home meetings (0-2-2) and points in four of his six career home outings against the club (1-3-4).
• F Kent Johnson – 1-3-4 in 4 career GP, having registered points in each of his first three career appearances against the club prior to his last outing on Feb. 17, 2024 at San Jose.
• C Sean Kuraly – 2-2-4 in 10 career GP, including goals in his past two home appearances vs. the Sharks.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-0-2 in 5 career GP, scoring goals in two of his past three contests against the team.
• D Ivan Provorov – 2-4-6 in 14 career GP, including assists in three of his last four outings against the club (0-3-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 4-5-9 in 23 career GP, including 3-2-5 in his past eight appearances vs. San Jose.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-2-6 in 12 career GP, including points in two of his last three meetings (1-1-2) and points in four of his six career home outings (3-2-5).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus won a season-high fifth-straight game and has collected points in 10 of the last 12 contests since Dec. 19 (9-2-1) following a 3-2 shootout win over Philadelphia on Tuesday.  The club leads the league in wins (tied), points (tied), points percentage (.792, tied), goals-for per game (3.75) and power play percentage (44.0) over that stretch.
• CBJ are 15-5-3 (33 points) at Nationwide Arena in 2024-25, posting the second-most wins (tied) and points through the first 23 home games of a campaign in CBJ history (17-5-1, 35 points in 2016-17).
• The team has recorded points in 17 of its last 20 home games (14-3-3; .775 points pct) and leads the NHL in goals-for (4.20), while ranking second in power play pct. (33.3) and third in points pct. at home since Oct. 22.
• The Jackets are in a stretch of eight of 11 contests played at Nationwide Arena from Dec. 23-Jan. 16.  Following Thursday’s contest against San Jose, Columbus will play 8-of-9 contests away from home from Jan. 18-Feb. 4.
• The Blue Jackets’ 3.36 goals-for/game in 2024-25 are the fifth-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The club’s 148 goals (not including SO goals) are the sixth-most in the league in 2024-25 and the most through the first 44 games of a season in franchise history, surpassing the 143 posted to start the 2016-17 campaign.
• The Blue Jackets scored in all three periods in regulation in seven of the last 12 games, including six of the last eight home contests.  CBJ have scored in all three periods in a game 18 times this season, including 14 occasions at home.  Last season, the club scored in all three periods 20 times (10 times at home).
• The club has also registered 39 multi-goal frames in 2024-25.
• CBJ are tied with Winnipeg for the NHL lead with 10 six-goal games this season, most recently recording the feat on Jan. 9 vs. Seattle.  It’s the second time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in 10 or more contests in a campaign after setting the club record with 11 occurrences in 2018-19.
• Columbus was the first team to reach 100 even strength goals this season (101), reaching the mark on Thursday vs. Seattle.  The club is second in the league in goals scored during 5-on-5 play (104), trailing only Washington (105).
• The Jackets failed to score the first goal in a game for the first time in seven contests after Philadelphia opened the scoring 3:44 in on Tuesday.  The club has scored first in 10 of the last 12 contests and in 27 (17-6-4) of the first 44 contests this season.  CBJ have scored first in a league-high 61.4 percent of their games this season.
• The Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in five of the last seven contests (6-of-13; 46.2 pct.).  The club has recorded a PPG in 13 of the last 18 games (16-of-46; 34.8 pct.), ranking second in the league in PP pct. since Dec. 8 (WPG, 37.5).  CBJ also lead the league in PP percentage at home over that same stretch (42.3 pct; 11-of-26).
• CBJ rank fourth in the NHL in first period goals scored (46), 11th in second period goals (47) and seventh in third period goals scored (54) in 2024-25.
• Columbus plays the ninth (4-3-1) of 19 Thursday games when it hosts San Jose.  The club has recorded points in five of its first six home Thursday contests of the season (4-1-1).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners have combined for 9-29-38 in the last 12 games, including scoring both goals on Tuesday.  The team leads the league in goals by defensemen and ranks second in points, goal percentage and point percentage and fifth-T in assists with 30-83-113, 20.3 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.4 pct. of the team’s points in 44 contests.
• C Luca Del Bel Belluz, who was held off the scoresheet on Tuesday, registered assists in his first two games this season, including his first NHL assist and multi-point effort with 1-1-2 vs. Seattel on Jan. 9.  After also scoring in his NHL debut on Apr. 16, 2024 vs. Carolina, he became the second player in club history to record at least a point in each of his first three career games, following Zach Werenski (4 GP in 2016-17).
• C Adam Fantilli has recorded points in a career-high six-straight games (3-4-7) after picking up an assist vs. Philadelphia on Tuesday.  It’s tied with Jakub Voracek (6 GP in 2009-10) for the second-longest point streak by a Blue Jacket before age 21, trailing only Rick Nash (8 GP in 2003-04).
• F Kent Johnson, who has registered the shootout game-deciding goal in two of the last three wins (at PIT, vs. PHI), has collected points in three of the last five games overall (1-2-3).  He has recorded points in 19 of his first 30 games this season (11-13-24) and has already surpassed his season totals from 2023-24 (6-10-16, 42 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko recorded an assist on Tuesday and has registered points in five consecutive outings (2-4-6), 13 of his last 15 games (8-13-21) and 16 of the last 19 (8-16-24).  The forward ranks ninth-T in the league in points since Nov. 21 with 12-20-32 in 26 contests.  He leads the club in goals, multi-assist and multi-point efforts and ranks second in assists and points with 18-30-48, nine multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 44 contests and has already set a single-season career high in assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24).
• RW Mathieu Olivier has already set single-season career highs in goals and points (5-10-15, 66 GP in 2022-23) and ranks second in the NHL in penalty minutes and sixth in hits with 10-7-17, 83 PIM and 155 hits in 44 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with seven-plus goals, 50 PIM and 100 hits in 2024-25.
• D Ivan Provorov has collected 0-5-5 in the past six outings since Jan. 2 and 1-8-9 in the last 14 contests dating back to Dec. 15.
• C Cole Sillinger notched the game-winning goal on Saturday and has collected points in three of his last five games played (1-2-3).  He has posted 7-16-23 in 42 outings in 2024-25 and is three assists shy of tying his single-season career high (77 GP in 2023-24).
• LW James van Riemsdyk has collected assists in two of the last three games (0-3-3) and has 2-4-6 in the past six contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov had his four-game points streak (4-2-6) snapped on Tuesday.  He has posted six multi-point efforts in the last 11 contests (9-6-15) and has notched points in 11 of the last 14 contests (10-8-18).  The forward has registered 16-13-29 with nine multi-point efforts in his last 29 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.  Since that date, he ranks fifth-T in the NHL in goals, trailing Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (19 goals in 25 GP), Detroit’s Lucas Raymond (17 in 28 GP), Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point (17 in 25 GP) and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele (17 in 28 GP).
• D Zach Werenski notched his second multi-goal game of the campaign after scoring both of CBJ’s goals in regulation on Tuesday.  Notching his 50^th point of the season on his second goal, he became the second fastest Blue Jacket (44 GP) to reach the mark in a campaign, trailing only Artemi Panarin (43 GP in 2018-19).  He has registered points in six of the last seven contests (4-7-11) and has picked up six multi-point efforts in the last 10 games (4-14-18).  He owns the club record for longest home points streak at 17 games (12-22-34) and is the seventh defenseman in NHL history to post a run of at least that length and the first since Ray Bourque in 1992-93 (6-19-25 in 17 GP).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP and ranks third in shots on goal (David Pastrnak, 187) as well leads league blueliners in goals, points (tied) and shots on goal and ranks third in assists with 15-35-50 and 171 shots on 26:40 of ice time in 44 contests this season.  He leads NHL blueliners in goals, assists, and points and is tied for third among all skaters in scoring since Nov. 21 with 11-25-36 in 26 contests, trailing only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (37 each).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• HC Dean Evason is five games from 300 for his NHL HC career (168-94-33, 295 GC).
• LW Zach Aston-Reese is nine points from 100 for his NHL career (46-45-91, 353 GP).
• D Jake Christiansen is 12 games from 100 for his NHL career (2-12-14, 88 GP).
• C Adam Fantilli is seven games from 100 for his NHL career (22-27-49, 93 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is five assists from 200 for his NHL career (73-195-268, 658 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is three points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (39-58-97, 262 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (44 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (41 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (23 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 10 (16 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 7 (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 178

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS