By Joe Coopersmith

MAR. 20, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS

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)

Panthers to Watch

• C Aleksander Barkov leads the Panthers in assists and ranks second in points with 18-44-62 in 58 contests in 2024-25 and has totaled 14-21-35 in 34 career appearances against the Blue Jackets.
• C Sam Reinhart, who ranks eighth-T in the NHL in goals, leads the Panthers in goals and points and ranks second in assists with 33-39-72 in 68 games this season and has tallied 13-21-34 in 26 career outings against Columbus.

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 26-21-5 in 52 all-time games against the Panthers, including 16-7-3 at home.
• Florida has won the last seven-straight contests in the all-time series since Dec. 13, 2022 (CBJ; 0-6-1).
• The winning team had scored four or more goals in 12-straight outings in the series prior to Florida’s 3-0 win in the most recent meeting on Mar. 6.
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in eight of the last 11 meetings overall and each of the past six played at Nationwide Arena.
• Columbus has recorded three shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins’ posting the most recent one with 32 saves in a 1-0 OT win at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 4, 2020.
• Florida recorded the most recent shutout with former Blue Jacket Sergei Bobrovsky making 16 saves in a 3-0 win at Amerant Bank Arena on Mar. 6, 2025.
• The Jackets have posted two hat tricks in the all-time series, both by defensemen (Deron Quint on Mar. 9, 2001 and Zach Werenski on Dec. 31, 2019).

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

• Oct. 15, 2024 – FLA 4, at CBJ 3
• Mar. 6, 2025 – at FLA 3, CBJ 0
• Mar. 20, 2025 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Panthers

• C Boone Jenner – 12-8-20 in 24 career GP, including goals in three of his last six appearances against the club (3-0-3).
• F Kent Johnson – 1-1-2 in 6 career GP, including an assist in the first home game of the 2024-25 series.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-2-3 in 7 career GP, including assists in his past two home appearances against the team (0-2-2).
• D Damon Severson – 3-11-14 in 25 career GP, including assists in four of his past six home contests against Florida (0-4-4).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 13-12-25 in 42 career GP, including a goal in the first meeting in 2024-25.
• D Zach Werenski – 7-8-15 in 24 career GP, including points in seven of his past 10 games at Nationwide Arena in the series (4-5-9).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets fell for the fourth-straight game overall, and third consecutive outing at home  with a 2-1 loss on to New Jersey on Monday.
• CBJ play their ninth of 12 back-to-back sets when they host Florida on Thursday and visit Pittsburgh on Friday.  The club is 4-3-1 in the first game of a back-to-back in 2024-25, including wins in the past three since Dec. 27 and points in the last four since Dec. 14 (3-0-1).
• Columbus is in the back half of a stretch of six-of-eight games against Metropolitan Division opponents from Mar. 9-24 (NYR-2, NJD-2, PIT, NYI).  The only two non-division games are against Vegas (Pacific) on Mar. 13 and Florida (Atlantic) on Thursday.
• The team has collected points in 22 of the last 35 contests overall since Dec. 19 (19-13-3, 41 points).  The Jackets rank ninth-T in the NHL in goals-for per game (3.17) and 13^th-T in points and points percentage (.586) over that stretch.
• The club is 20-9-4 at home in 2024-25 (44 points), posting the second-most points (tied, 2008-09) and tied for the third-most points (2017-18) in the first 33 home games of a campaign in franchise history (23-9-1, 47 pts in 2016-17).
• CBJ boast the second-best goals-for per game average in the league (3.73) and rank fourth-T in goals scored (123), eighth in power play pct. (26.7) and 11th in points pct. at home this season (.667).
• CBJ have earned points in 23 of the past 30 home contests (19-7-4) to rank second in the NHL in goals-for at home (3.77), fourth in power play pct. (28.4) and ninth-T in points pct. (.700) since Oct. 22. The Jackets have outscored opponents 113-90 over that stretch (+23).
• The club’s 214 goals (not including SO goals) are the second-most through the first 67 games of a campaign, trailing only the 215 scored in 2021-22.
• The Blue Jackets are averaging a franchise-best 3.19 goals for per game (3.15 in 2021-22), which ranks 10th-T in the NHL.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided after regulation (11 in OT), tied for sixth-most games in the NHL.
• Columbus’s 12 games with six or more goals are tied with Washington and Winnipeg for most in the league this season and have set a new club record for a single season (11, 2018-19).
• The club’s 155 goals scored during 5-on-5 play are the second most in the league in 2024-25, trailing only Washington (166).
• The team has scored first in 38 (24-9-5) of the first 67 contests this season and sit one game shy of the league leaders (Colorado, Minnesota, Tampa Bay).
• Columbus ranks sixth-T in the league with eight shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks 11th in the NHL in first period goals scored (63), seventh in second period goals (75) and 11^th-T in third period goals scored (72) in 2024-25.
• The Jackets play their 16^th of 19 Thursday games of the campaign when they host the Panthers (7-6-2).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• Five Blue Jackets have reached the 20-goal plateau in 2024-25 (RW Kirill Marchenko – 25, C Adam Fantilli – 21, F Kent Johnson – 21, F Dmitri Voronkov – 20, and D Zach Werenski – 20), which is tied for the most in a season in franchise history (2018-19).
• CBJ lead the league in goals (tied, Seattle) and rank second in goal percentage, fourth in points and points percentage and ninth-T in assists with 43-118-161, 20.1 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.0 pct. of the team’s points in 67 contests.  The 43 goals are tied for the second-most by CBJ blueliners in a single season (2014-15, 2021-22), trailing only the 51 goals recorded in 2017-18.
• C Adam Fantilli has recorded points in eight of the past 12 outings (6-5-11) and 13 of the past 20 contests since Jan. 22 (10-9-19).  The 20-year-old leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists (tied) and points as well as leads CBJ forwards in TOI and has collected points in 20 of 29 contests since Jan. 1 (14-13-27, 19:28).  He has already set single-season career highs with 21-21-42 in 67 appearances in 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded points in eight of the past 12 outings (5-5-10), 16 of the past 21 contests (9-10-19), 17 of the last 23 contests (10-11-21) and 20 of the last 28 games (11-13-24).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 36 of his 53 games this season and has set a single-season career high in goals, assists (tied) and points with 21-24-45.  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.44), trailing only Buffalo’s Tage Thompson (1.91) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (1.48).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected points in 17 of his past 25 contests (9-11-20), 25 of the last 36 games (15-20-35) and 28 of the past 39 (15-23-38).  The forward ranks eighth-T in the NHL in plus/minus rating, leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 25-37-62, +30, nine multi-assist and 15 multi-point outings in 64 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in goals, 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 registered 6-2-8 in the past nine contests, including the club’s lone goal vs. New Jersey on Monday.  He has already set single-season career highs and ranks second in the NHL in penalty minutes and fourth in hits, while also setting a single-season franchise record in hits with 16-10-26, 120 PIM and 250 hits in 67 games.  He is one of three NHL players (Florida’s Sam Bennett & Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 80 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• LW James van Riemsdyk has registered 10-11-21 and five multi-point outings in the last 29 contests and is fourth in the NHL in points/60 minutes during 5v5 play since Jan. 1 (min. 15 GP, 3.27; 8-10-18).
• D Zach Werenski has posted 2-5-7 with three multi-point efforts in eight contests in March.  He has also notched points in 21 of his last 32 contests overall since Dec. 23 (9-28-37).   The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in even strength goals and even strength points and ranks second in shots on goal (tied), goals, assists, points and power play goals (tied) with 20-49-69, 14-31-45 at even strength, five PPG and 234 shots on 27:00 of ice time in 66 contests this season.  He has already set single-season franchise records for goals (tied; Werenski, 20 in 2019-20), assists (Werenski, 46 in 2023-24) and points (Jones, 57 in 2017-18; Werenski, 57 in 2023-24) by a defenseman.  With his next assist, he’ll become the fifth different player in club history with 50 assists in a campaign (Panarin-2x, Gaudreau, Voracek, Whitney).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is five points from 100 for his NHL career (46-49-95, 376 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-181-373, 726 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is 10 wins from 100 for his NHL career (90-97-34, 235 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (64 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (26 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (11 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 27 (8 Games)
• D Jake Christiansen (upper body); (2 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 288

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS