By Joe Coopersmith

FEB. 25, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. DALLAS STARS

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)

Stars to Watch

• Former Blue Jacket C Matt Duchene, who has 5-5-10 over a four-game assists streak, leads the Stars in goals (tied), assists and points with 23-36-59 in 57 appearances this season.
• G Jake Oettinger ranks second in the NHL in wins with a 27-12-2 record, 2.37 GAA and .912 SV% in 41 contests in 2024-25 and is 9-0-1 with a 1.77 GAA and .927 SV% in 10 career appearances against CBJ.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 32-36-7 in 75 all-time games against Dallas, including 17-16-5 at home.
• Dallas has won eight of the last 10 meetings in the series since Mar. 14, 2021 (CBJ; 2-7-1).
• Columbus has recorded points in 12 of the past 16 meetings at Nationwide Arena since Jan. 28, 2013 (10-4-2).
• CBJ have killed off all 17-of-18 Stars power play chances over the last 11 games of the series dating back to Mar. 13, 2021 with the club not allowing a power play opportunity in two of the contests (Mar. 13, 2021 and Dec. 19, 2022).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in each of the last four meetings and seven of the past nine since Apr. 15, 2021.
• The winning team has also won by multiple goals in seven of the past nine outings, including four-straight.
• Columbus has recorded two shutouts in the all-time series with Mathieu Garon (26 saves in 2-0 win at CBJ on Jan. 10, 2010) and Sergei Bobrovsky (32 saves in 3-0 win at DAL on Oct. 22, 2016) recording the club’s shutouts.
• The Stars have recorded all three hat tricks in the series (MR: Tyler Seguin on Oct. 14, 2014), while the Blue Jackets have been awarded both penalty shots (MR: Emil Bemstrom unsuccessful on Mar. 13, 2021).

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Feb. 2, 2025 – at DAL 5, CBJ 3
• Feb. 25, 2025 – at Columbus (7 pm ET)

PLAYER NOTABLES VS. STARS

• C Adam Fantilli – 0-3-3 in three career GP, collecting assists in all three of his contests against the club.
• C Kent Johnson – 1-2-3 with points in three of four career GP, including assists in the past two contests and a goal in his lone home outing against Dallas (Dec. 19, 2022).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-1-2 in 4 career GP, registering his points in the past two contests.
• D Damon Severson – 2-6-8 in 18 career GP, including points in five of his past eight contests overall (1-4-5) and three of the past five at home (0-3-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 7-10-17 in 24 career GP, including assists in two of his past three outings.
• LW Dmitri Voronkov – 2-1-3 in 3 career GP, recording points in all three of his career contests vs. Dallas.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-8-12 in 18 career GP, including points in seven of his 10 career home contests against Dallas (4-6-10).

COUNTDOWN TO STADIUM SERIES

• CBJ are four days away from playing in the first outdoor game in franchise history and the 43^rd in NHL regular season history.  The club hosts the Detroit Red Wings at historic Ohio Stadium, home of the 2024 College Football Playoff National Champions, THE Ohio State Buckeyes, on Saturday, Mar. 1 (6pm).
• Six current Blue Jackets have taken part in an outdoor game; LW Zach Aston-Reese, D Dante Fabbro, D Jack Johnson, C Sean Monahan, D Ivan Provorov and LW James van Riemsdyk, while HC Dean Evason has coached in two outdoor games (1 as HC, 1 as AC).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ returned to action following the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a 5-1 victory over Chicago on Saturday.
• Columbus has recorded points in 13 of the past 15 home contests (10-2-3) as well as 18 of the last 21 played at Nationwide Arena (14-3-4).
• Columbus boasts the best goals-for per game average (3.96) and total goals (tied, 111) in the league at home (3.96), while also ranking fifth in power play pct. (29.2) and seventh-T in points pct. this season (.714).
• CBJ have earned points in 21 of the past 25 at NWA (17-4-4) to lead the NHL in goals-for at home (4.04) and rank third in points pct. (tied, .760) and power play pct. (31.6) since Oct. 22.
• The club is 18-6-4 at home in 2024-25 (40 points), posting the most points and second-most wins (tied) in the first 28 home games of a campaign in franchise history.
• The team has collected points in 18 of the last 25 contests overall since Dec. 19 (15-7-3, 33 points).  The Jackets rank fourth in the NHL in points percentage (.660), sixth in power play pct. (28.3) and seventh in goals-for per game (3.28) over that stretch.
• CBJ have improved their numbers over the past nine weeks of the season compared to the first 9.5 (Oct. 16-Dec. 18), including goals-against average (3.63 to 2.80), power play pct. (18.2 to 28.3) and penalty kill pct. (72.5 to 80.4).  The club sat in eighth place in the division and Wild Card race at 12-15-5 (29 points) on Dec. 18.
• The Jackets have allowed three goals or less in 14 of the past 17 contests and rank sixth in the NHL in goals-against per game since Jan. 7 (2.41, 41 goals total).
• The club’s 185 goals (not including SO goals) is tied for the second-most through the first 57 games of a season in franchise history (2018-19), and two shy of the 187 scored in 2021-22.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided after regulation (11 in OT) to rank second-T in the NHL in games played after regulation (Utah, 17).
• CBJ have scored in all three periods against Chicago on Saturday and have accomplished the feat 21 times this season, including 16 occasions at home.  Last season, the club scored in all three periods 20 times (10 times at home).
• The Blue Jackets have posted the fourth-most games with six or more goals season (10), trailing only Florida, Washington and Winnipeg (11).  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 has scored 132 goals during 5-on-5 play, trailing only Washington (139) for the league lead.
• The club has scored first in 35 (21-9-5) of the first 57 contests this season.  CBJ have scored first in 61.4 percent of its games this season, trailing only Buffalo (63.6 pct.) for the NHL lead.
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the league with seven shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks fourth-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (59), 12^th in second period goals (tied, 59) and third period goals scored (63) in 2024-25.  The club is one of six teams with 55-plus goals in all three periods (Dallas, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, Winnipeg).
• The Jackets play their 12th of 17 Tuesday games of the season and have won three of their last four Tuesday contests since Dec. 31.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners combined for 2-2-4 in Saturday’s win over Chicago.  The team leads the league lead in goals and goal percentage and ranks second in points percentage, third in points as well as sixth in assists with 38-105-144, 20.5 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.7 pct. of the team’s points in 57 contests.
• D Dante Fabbro ranks third in the NHL in blocked shots and fourth in blocks/60 minutes (min. 6 GP) since Dec. 31 with 55 blocks and 8.91 blocks/60 in 17 games.
• C Adam Fantilli notched a goal against the Blackhawks and has recorded points in seven of the past 10 contests (5-5-10).  The 20-year-old ranks fifth among NHL forwards in TOI in February (22:10, 5 GP).  He leads the club in goals and ranks second in points as well as leads CBJ forwards in TOI and has collected points in 14 of 19 contests since Jan. 1 (9-9-18, 19:58).  He has set single-season career highs with 16-17-33 in 57 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner registered an assist in his season debut against Chicago on Saturday after missing the first 56 contests with a shoulder injury.  He is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played and ranks third in goals and points with 192-173-365 in 716 career games.  He posted three-straight 20-goal seasons heading into 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson notched his third multi-goal game of the campaign with 2-0-2 on Saturday.  He has registered points in 10 of the past 11 contests (7-5-12), 11 of the past 13 contests (8-6-14) and 14 of the last 18 games (9-8-17).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 30 of his 43 games this season (19-19-38) and has set a single-season career high in goals (16-24-40, 79 GP in 2022-23).  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.57), trailing only Tage Thompson (1.91) and Alex Ovechkin (1.91).
• RW Kirill Marchenko registered an assist on Saturday after missing the past three contests with a broken jaw suffered at Dallas on Feb. 2.  He has recorded points in seven of his last eight games (3-4-7), 13 of his past 15 contests (5-9-14), 21 of the last 25 games (11-18-29) and 24 of the past 29 (11-21-32).  The forward ranks second-T in the NHL in plus/minus rating as well as leads the club in goals and multi-assist efforts (tied) and ranks second in assists, points and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 21-35-56, +32, nine multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 54 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24) and is the first player in franchise history with 20-plus goals in three-straight campaigns to start their career.
• RW Mathieu Olivier has already set single-season career highs in goals, points and hits (5-10-15, 66 GP in 2022-23) and ranks second in the NHL in hits and third in PIM with 10-8-18, 99 PIM and 213 hits in 57 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals, 70 PIM and 125 hits in 2024-25.
• C Cole Sillinger collected his fourth multi-assist and fifth multi-point outing with two assists against Chicago on Saturday.  He has registered points in five of the past seven contests with 2-4-6.  The 21-year-old set a new single-season career high in assists (9-20-29, 52 GP) with his second assist of the night and sits three points shy of tying his career high set in 2023-24 (13-19-32, 77 GP).
• LW James van Riemsdyk has collected points in seven of the past 10 contests (3-5-8).  He ranks second-T on the team in assists, third-T in goals and fourth in points since Jan. 1 with 7-9-16 and four multi-point outings in 19 contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov collected his third multi-assist and 10^th multi-point effort with two assists on Saturday.  He has registered 18-18-36 with 10 multi-point efforts and is +21 in his last 42 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.
• D Zach Werenski, represented the United States at the recently completed 4 Nations Face-Off and led the tournament in assists and points with 0-6-6 in four games.  He became the first defenseman in NHL International Tournament history to lead all players outright in points – Canadian blueliners Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin were part of a three-way tie at the 1976 Canada Cup.
• Werenski notched his team-leading fifth three-point outing and 15^th multi-point effort with 1-2-3 in the win over Chicago.  He has registered points in 15 of his last 19 contests overall (7-16-23).  He extended his franchise record home points streak to 22-straight games (14-27-41) to tie Phil Housley (22 GP in 1991-92) for the third-longest point streak by a blueliner in NHL history.  The list is topped by Bobby Orr (25 GP in 1974-75) and Paul Coffey (23 GP in 1985-86).  He has posted 14-32-46 in 28 home games this season, tied with Nathan MacKinnon (13-33-46 in 28 GP) for the most in the NHL in 2024-25 and with Johnny Gaudreau (17-29-46 in 41 GP in 2022-23) for the most in a single season in franchise history.
• Werenski, a native of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in even strength goals, even strength points and shots on goal and ranks second in goals, assists and points and power play goals (tied) with 18-44-62, 13-27-40 at even strength, five PPG and 205 shots on 26:49 of ice time in 56 contests this season.  He has set a new franchise for points by a defenseman in a single season, surpassing the record set by Seth Jones in 2017-18 (16-41-57 in 78 GP) and matched by Werenski in 2023-24 (11-46-57 in 70 GP).  He also owns the CBJ record for goals by a blueliner with 20 in 2019-20.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is eight points from 100 for his NHL career (46-46-92, 366 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-173-365, 716 GP).
• F Kent Johnson is three points from 100 for his NHL career (41-56-97 in 173 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is nine games from 200 for his NHL career (65-58-123, 191 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is two assists from 200 for his NHL career (76-198-274, 671 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (256 in 542 GP) is three assists from surpassing Rick Nash (258 in 675 GP) for the most in franchise history.

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (54 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (36 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (16 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 ( 1 Game)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 245

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS