By Joe Coopersmith

MARCH 21, 2025 II PPG PAINTS ARENA II AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

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)

Penguins to Watch

• C Sidney Crosby, who has posted 5-3-8 over a five-game points streak, leads the Penguins in assists and points with 24-50-74 in 68 games this season and has notched 20-43-63 in 44 career games against CBJ.
• RW Rickard Rakell leads the team in goals and ranks second in points with 31-28-59 in 69 contests in 2024-25 and has collected 6-9-15 in 21 career outings vs. the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 18-29-9 in 56 all-time meetings vs. Pittsburgh, including 5-18-5 on the road.
• CBJ have won three-straight games against Pittsburgh and have recorded points in five of the last eight games since Mar. 7, 2023 (4-3-1).
• The Blue Jackets snapped a 15-game road losing streak in the series (0-10-5) with the 4-3 SO win at PPG Paints Arena on January 7.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 14 of the past 18 games of the series overall (including SO goals).
• Three of the last four games and five of the past eight meetings have been decided by a single goal.
• Forwards Nick Foligno (Apr. 4, 2015), Scott Hartnell (Dec. 22, 2016) and Gustav Nyquist (Nov. 29, 2019) own the Blue Jackets’ three hat tricks in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 2-0-0)

• Nov. 15, 2024 – at CBJ 6, PIT 2
• Jan. 7, 2025 – CBJ 4, at PIT 3 (SO)
• Mar. 21, 2025 – at Pittsburgh (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Penguins

• C Justin Danforth – 1-2-3 in 7 career GP, including assists in two of his past three contests against the club.
• C Adam Fantilli – 1-2-3 in 3 career GP, recording his points in the first two games of the season series after collecting 1-1-2 in the win at Pittsburgh on January 7.
• F Kent Johnson – 1-3-4 in 6 career GP, including assists in his past two contests at Pittsburgh (0-3-3).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-3-5 in 8 career GP, including points in his past three-straight (1-3-4) and four of his last five (2-3-5) after collecting two assists in the contest on January 7.
• RW Mathieu Olivier – 3-0-3 in 8 career GP, who has goals in three of his last four games going back to Mar. 28, 2024.
• D Damon Severson – 4-16-20 in 44 career GP, with points in his past three outings against the team (1-2-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 13-18-31 in 56 career GP, including assists in three of his last five outings at PPG Paints Arena (0-4-4).
• F Dmitri Voronkov – 3-1-4 in 6 career GP, recording multiple points in both games of the 2024-25 season series, including two goals in the win at Pittsburgh on January 7.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-9-13 in 20 career GP, including two two-point efforts in the 2024-25 series (2-2-4) and points in five of his last six contests overall (2-5-7) as well as points in four of his last five at Pittsburgh (1-3-4).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets picked up a point, while completing a four-game homestand, falling 1-0 in overtime to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday.
• Columbus has allowed three goals in the last two contests (0-1-1), falling to 19-1-4 when allowing two goals or less in 2024-25.
• The Jackets close out their ninth of 12 back-to-back sets when they visit the Penguins on Friday.  The club has collected points in four of its last five back-to-back games since Jan. 22 (3-1-1).
• The team has collected points in 23 of the last 36 contests overall since Dec. 19 (19-13-4, 42 points).
• The club is 20-9-5 at home in 2024-25 (45 points), posting the third-most points and fourth-most wins in the first 34 home games of a campaign in franchise history (24-9-1, 49 pts in 2016-17).
• CBJ rank third-T in the NHL in goals-for per game average (3.62), fourth-T in goals scored (123), eighth in power play pct. (26.0) and 10th in points pct. at home this season (.662).
• The club’s 214 goals (not including SO goals) are the third-most through the first 68 games of a campaign, trailing the 217 goals recorded in 2016-17 and 2021-22.
• The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.15 goals for per game, tied with 2021-22 for the highest average in a single season in franchise history and ranks 11th in the NHL.
• Columbus has had 17 of its games decided after regulation (12 in OT), tied for fifth-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 (169).
• The team has scored first in 38 (24-9-5) of the first 68 contests this season, tied for fourth-most games scoring first.
• Columbus ranks sixth-T in the league with eight shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks 11th-T 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 seventh (4-2-0) of eight Friday games this season when they visit the Penguins.  The club has won its past two contests on the day (Dec. 27 vs. Boston, Jan. 31 at Utah).

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 10ath-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 68 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 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 30 contests since Jan. 1 (14-13-27, 19:23).  He has already set single-season career highs with 21-21-42 in 68 appearances in 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded 5-5-10 in the past 13 outings and 11-13-24 in the past 29 contests.  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 36 of his 54 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; 1.42), trailing only Buffalo’s Tage Thompson (1.91) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (1.54).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected 9-11-20 in his past 26 contests, 15-20-35 in the past 37 outings and 15-23-38 in the last 40. The forward ranks ninth-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 65 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 10 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs and ranks second in the NHL in hits and penalty minutes with 16-10-26, 120 PIM and 258 hits in 68 games after finishing with eight hits on Thursday.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 90 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• LW James van Riemsdyk has recorded 6-7-13 in the past 21 contests.  He has also registered 10-11-21 and five multi-point outings in the last 30 contests and is fourth in the NHL in points/60 minutes during 5v5 play since Jan. 1 (min. 15 GP, 3.18; 8-10-18).
• D Zach Werenski has posted 2-5-7 with three multi-point efforts in nine contests in March.  He has also notched points in 21 of his last 33 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, even strength points (tied) and shots on goal and ranks second in goals, points and power play goals (tied) and third in assists with 20-49-69, 14-31-45 at even strength, five PPG and 240 shots on 26:58 of ice time in 67 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, 377 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-181-373, 727 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is 10 wins from 100 for his NHL career (90-97-35, 236 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (65 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (27 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (12 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 27 (9 Games)
• D Jake Christiansen (upper body); (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 293

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS