By Joe Coopersmith

MARCH 28, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. VANCOUVER CANUCKS

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)

Canucks to Watch

• RW Brock Boeser, with 5-1-6 in the past five contests, is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks third in points with 23-21-44 in 65 contests in 2024-25 and has totaled 4-5-9 in 10 career games against CBJ.
• D Quinn Hughes, who has registered points in seven of the past eight games (2-6-8), ranks second among NHL blueliners in assists and third in points with 16-52-68 in 58 outings this season and has collected 1-12-13 in nine career outings against the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 25-32-11 in 68 all-time games against the Canucks, including 14-15-5 at home.
• The teams have split the series for the last three seasons as well as eight of the 10 series since moving to a home-and-home series in 2013-14.
• The home team has won the last seven-straight meetings dating back to Nov. 26, 2021.
• CBJ have recorded points in seven of the past 10 contests overall since Mar. 24, 2019 (6-3-1).
• Columbus has won four consecutive meetings at Nationwide Arena with the past two wins coming after regulation (1-OT, 1-SO).
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in five of the last six games dating back to Dec. 14, 2021, including seven goals in a 5-2 Vancouver win in the last game of the series on Dec. 6, 2024 at Rogers Arena.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in the last seven consecutive games of the series (including SO goals) and nine of the past ten since Mar. 24, 2019.
• Three of the past five meetings have been decided after regulation (two in OT) and five of the last eight games have been decided by a single goal.
• CBJ have recorded a power play goal in three of the past four contests of the series (4-of-15; 26.7 pct.).
• Columbus has recorded two shutouts (MR: Bobrovsky, 21 saves in 5-0 W at Vancouver on Mar. 24, 2019) and  three penalty shot attempts (MR: Mayorov unsuccessful against Schneider in 2-3 L at Columbus on Oct. 10, 2011).

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Dec. 6, 2024 – at VAN 5, CBJ 2
• Mar. 28, 2025 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Canucks

• RW Zach Aston-Reese – 2-1-3 in 6 career GP, including goals in two of his three career home outings against the club.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov – 1-3-4 in 4 career GP, including points in his past three-straight contests overall and last two home outings (1-2-3).
• C Luke Kunin – 4-5-9 in 16 career GP, including points in two of his past three games (1-1-2).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 3-1-4 in 4 career GP, including points in his last two outings (1-1-2).
• G Elvis Merzlikins – 4-2-1 with .901 SV% in 7 career GP, including a 3-0-0 record with a 2.55 GAA and .925 SV% in three career games at Nationwide Arena.
• C Sean Monahan – 13-15-28 with five multi-point efforts in 47 career GP, including assists in two of his last three home contests (0-2-2).
• D Damon Severson – 2-6-8 in 18 career GP, including points in the past two meetings (1-1-2) and three of his last four outings overall (1-2-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 6-5-11 in 23 career GP, including assists in his last two home appearances (0-2-2).
• F Dmitri Voronkov – 2-0-2 in 3 career GP, notching his first career multi-goal game in his lone home contests on Jan. 15, 2024.
• D Zach Werenski – 3-4-7 in 13 career GP, including points in three of his past four meetings against the club (1-2-3) and goals in two of his past three home outings (2-1-3).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets snapped a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) with a 4-3 shootout victory at the NY Islanders on Monday.
• The club plays its final three games of the season against the Western Conference over a four-game stretch from Mar. 28-Apr. 3.  The Jackets have recorded points in 18 of their first 29 contests against the Conference in 2024-25 (14-11-4).
• CBJ play their 10^th of 12 back-to-back sets of the campaign when they host Vancouver on Friday and visit Ottawa on Saturday.  The club has earned points in six of its last seven opening games of a back-to-back set (4-1-2), including the past five-straight (3-0-2).
• The team has collected points in 24 of the last 38 contests overall since Dec. 19 (20-14-4, 44 points) to rank 14^th in the league in points percentage.
• 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 sixth in the NHL in goals-for per game average (3.62), eighth in goals scored (tied, 123) and power play pct. (26.0) and 10th in points pct. at home this season (.662).
• The club’s 220 goals (not including SO goals) are the third-most through the first 70 games of a campaign, trailing only 2016-17 (222) and 2021-22 (221).
• The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.14 goals for per game, trailing only 2021-22 (3.15) for the highest average in a single season in franchise history, and ranking 11th in the NHL in 2024-25.
• Columbus has had 18 of its games decided after regulation (12 in OT), tied for sixth-most games in the NHL.
• Columbus’s 12 games with six or more goals are tied with Winnipeg for the second-most in the league this season (Washington, 13) and have set a new club record for a single season (11, 2018-19).
• The club’s 160 goals scored during 5-on-5 play are tied for the second-most in the league in 2024-25 (Vegas), trailing only Washington (176).
• The team has scored first in 38 (24-9-5) of the first 70 contests this season, tied for eighth-most games scoring first.
• Columbus, which scored a shorthanded goal on Monday at the NY Islanders, ranks fourth-T in the league with nine shorthanded goals in 2024-25.  The nine shorthanded tallies are tied for the fourth-most in a season in club history, trailing 2002-03 (12), 2005-06 (10) and 2016-17 (10).
• CBJ ranks 14th-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (64), seventh-T in second period goals (78) and 11th-T in third period goals scored (74) in 2024-25.
• The Blue Jackets play their eighth and final Friday game of the season (4-3-0).  CBJ are 2-1-0 in the past three contests played on the day.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• Five Blue Jackets have reached the 20-goal plateau in 2024-25 (RW Kirill Marchenko – 26, F Kent Johnson – 22, C Adam Fantilli – 22, F Dmitri Voronkov – 20, and D Zach Werenski – 20), which is tied for the most in a season in franchise history (2018-19).
• CBJ rank second in the league in goals and goal percentage, fourth in points percentage, sixth in points and 11th in assists with 43-123-166, 19.6 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.0 pct. of the team’s points in 70 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, who notched a goal on Monday, leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists (tied) and points as well as ranks second amongst CBJ forwards in TOI with 15-13-28 and 19:10 TOI in 32 contests since Jan. 1.  He has already set single-season career highs with 22-21-43 in 70 appearances in 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded 6-5-11 in the past 15 outings and 12-13-25 in the past 31 contests.  The 22-year-old has set a single-season career high in goals, assists (tied) and points with 22-24-46 in 56 outings.  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.45), trailing only Buffalo’s Tage Thompson (1.85) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (1.56).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has collected 10-11-21 in his past 28 contests, 16-20-36 in the past 39 outings and 16-23-39 in the last 42. The forward leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 26-37-63, +28, nine multi-assist and 15 multi-point outings in 67 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.
• C Sean Monahan, who has missed the past 28 contests with an upper body injury, collected two assists in his return to the ice on Monday at the Islanders.  He has collected 5-13-18 with six multi-point efforts in his past 10 contests played.  He ranks second in the NHL in assists per 60 minutes at 5v5 play in 2024-25 (2.07, 20 in 42 GP), trailing only Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (2.08, 39 in 71 GP) and has totaled 14-29-43 in 42 appearances.
• RW Mathieu Olivier has recorded 6-3-9 in the past 13 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs and ranks second in the NHL in penalty minutes and fourth in hits with 16-11-27, 125 PIM and 267 hits in 70 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 90 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• D Zach Werenski, who has posted 2-5-7 in 11 contests in March, set a career high and finished with the most TOI in the NHL in 2024-25 and third-most in a game in franchise history with 33:44 in Monday’s win at the NY Islanders.  The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in even strength goals (tied) and shots on goal and ranks second in goals, points, even strength points and power play goals (tied) and third-T in assists with 20-49-69, 14-31-45 at even strength, five PPG and 250 shots on 27:06 of ice time in 69 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, 379 GP).
• D Erik Gudbranson is one assist from 100 and seven games from 800 for his NHL career (34-99-133, 793 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is six goals from 200 for his NHL career (194-181-375, 729 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is nine wins from 100 for his NHL career (91-98-35, 238 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is 10 games from 200 for his CBJ career (26-28-54, 190 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (14 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 27 (11 Games)
• D Jake Christiansen (upper body); (5 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 301

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS