By Joe Coopersmith

MARCH 29, 2025 II CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE II AT OTTAWA SENATORS 

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)

Senators to Watch

• C Tim Stutzle leads the Senators in assists and points with 21-50-71 in 71 games in 2024-25 and has notched 5-1-6 in 9 career outings against the Blue Jackets.
• LW Brady Tkachuk leads the team in goals and power play goals with 29-26-55 and 14 power play goals in 69 appearances this season and has totaled 5-3-8 in 15 career contests vs. Columbus.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 18-18-5 in 41 all-time meetings vs. Ottawa, including 7-11-2 on the road.
• CBJ have recorded points in three of the last four meetings (2-1-1) and 12 of the last 16 games of the series dating back to Mar. 17, 2018 (9-4-3).
• The club has also recorded points in four of the past seven contests at Canadian Tire Centre (3-3-1) but Ottawa has won the past three in regulation.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in five of the past six meetings overall since Jan. 3, 2023 and the last six consecutive at Ottawa dating back to Apr. 6, 2019.
• CBJ have scored a power play goal in five of the past seven games of the series (6-of-18; 33.3 pct.).
• The Blue Jackets and Senators have each recorded three shutouts in the all-time series with goaltender Joonas Korpisalo earning the most recent one for CBJ with 25 saves in a 1-0 win at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 25, 2019.

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Mar. 29, 2025 – at Ottawa (7 p.m. ET)
• Apr. 6, 2025 – at Ottawa (5 p.m. ET)
• Apr. 8, 2025 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Senators

• C Boone Jenner – 8-4-12 in 23 career GP, including goals in each of his last four games against the club since Apr. 2, 2023 and six points in his last seven overall (4-2-6).
• F Kent Johnson – 1-2-3 in 6 career GP, including an assist in the last game at Ottawa on Feb. 13, 2024.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-3-4 in 6 career GP, including assists in each of the past two contests at Canadian Tire Centre (0-2-2).
• G Elvis Merzlikins – 2-2-2, 2.51 GAA, .927 SV% in 8 career GP, allowing two goals or less in seven of his eight career contests.
• C Sean Monahan – 6-12-18 in 28 career GP, including assists in each of his past three contests at Ottawa (0-4-4).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 17-17-34 with 8 multi-point efforts in 44 career GP, including 3-3-6 in his past eight outings overall and 2-1-3 in his past four at Ottawa.
• F Dmitri Voronkov – 2-0-2 in 3 career GP, including a goal in his lone appearance at Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 13, 2024.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-12-16 in 16 career GP, including assists in each of his last seven games overall (0-9-9) and points in nine of his last 10 (2-10-12) as well as a point in six of his seven career away games (2-6-8).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets have earned two-straight wins via the shootout, 4-3 at the NY Islanders on Mar. 24 and 7-6 over Vancouver on Friday.
• CBJ conclude their 10^th of 12 back-to-back sets of the campaign when they visit Ottawa on Saturday.
• The team has collected points in 25 of the last 39 contests overall since Dec. 19 (21-14-4, 46 points) to rank 11^th-T in the league in goals-for per game (3.15) and 13^th in points percentage (.590).
• The club is 21-9-5 at home in 2024-25 (47 points), posting the second-most points and fourth-most wins in the first 35 home games of a campaign in franchise history (25-9-1, 51 pts in 2016-17).
• CBJ rank fourth in the NHL in goals-for per game average (3.69), seventh in goals scored (129), eighth in power play pct. (25.9) and 10th in points pct. at home this season (.671).
• The club’s 226 goals (not including SO goals) are tied with 2016-17 for the most through the first 71 games of a campaign in CBJ history.
• The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.18 goals for per game, surpassing 2021-22 (3.15) for the highest average in a single season in franchise history, and ranking 10th in the NHL in 2024-25.
• Columbus has had 19 of its games decided after regulation (12 in OT), tied for fifth-most games in the NHL.  The club leads the league in wins in the shootout (6) and ranks second-T in shootout contests (7).
• Columbus’s 13 games with six or more goals are tied with Washington for the most in the league this season and have set a new club record for a single season (11, 2018-19).
• The club’s 165 goals scored during 5-on-5 play are the second-most in the league in 2024-25, trailing only Washington (178).
• The team has scored first in 38 (24-9-5) of the first 71 contests this season, tied for ninth-most games scoring first.
• Columbus 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 in second period goals (81) and 11^th in third period goals scored (77) in 2024-25.
• The Blue Jackets play their 19^th of 21 Saturday contests this season (7-7-4) when they visit the Senators.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• Five Blue Jackets have reached the 20-goal plateau in 2024-25 (RW Kirill Marchenko – 27, 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 blueliners combined for 2-5-7 in the win over Vancouver and lead the league in goals (tied, Colorado) and goal percentage and rank third in points percentage, fourth in points and ninth-T in assists with 45-128-173, 19.9 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.4 pct. of the team’s points in 71 contests.  The 45 goals are the second-most by CBJ blueliners in a single season, trailing only the 51 goals recorded in 2017-18.
• D Dante Fabbro registered his second career three-point game with 1-2-3 in Friday’s win over the Canucks and has collected assists in two-straight outings (1-3-4).  He has already set a single-season career high in goals and has reached the 20-point plateau (6-14-20, 52 GP) for the second time in his career (3-21-24, 66 GP in 2021-22).
• C Adam Fantilli, who has collected points in back-to-back contests (1-1-2), leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists and points since Jan. 21 with 15-14-29 in 33 games.  He has already set single-season career highs with 22-22-44 in 71 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner notched his first multi-goal and second three-point outing of the campaign with 2-1-3 on Friday against Vancouver.  He has recorded goals in three consecutive contests (4-1-5), one shy of tying his career best (2x, MR: 4-1-5 from Mar. 12-19, 2018).  He has totaled 4-10-14 in 15 contests this season.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded 6-5-11 in the past 16 outings and 12-13-25 in the past 32 contests.  The 22-year-old has set a single-season career high in goals, assists (tied) and points with 22-24-46 in 57 outings.  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.42), trailing only Buffalo’s Tage Thompson (1.89) and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (1.53).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has notched goals in consecutive games (2-1-3) after posting 1-1-2 on Friday and has collected 11-12-23 in his past 29 contests and 17-24-41 in the last 43. The forward leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 27-38-65, +26, nine multi-assist and 16 multi-point outings in 68 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 has collected assists in each of his first two games (0-3-3) since returning from a wrist injury on Mar. 24 at the NY Islanders.  He has registered 5-14-19 with six multi-point efforts in his past 11 contests played.  He leads the NHL in assists per 60 minutes and points per 60 minutes at 5v5 play in 2024-25 (2.12/3.02, 9-21-30 in 43 GP) and has totaled 14-30-44 in 43 appearances.
• RW Mathieu Olivier notched his fifth multi-point effort of the campaign with 1-1-2 on Friday and has recorded 7-4-11 in the past 14 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs and ranks second in the NHL in penalty minutes and third-T in hits with 17-12-29, 125 PIM and 270 hits in 71 games.  He is also one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 90 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• D Zach Werenski collected an assist on Friday and has posted 2-6-8 in 12 contests in March.  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 (tied), even strength points (tied) and power play goals (tied) and fourth in assists with 20-50-70, 14-31-45 at even strength, five PPG and 256 shots on 27:09 of ice time in 70 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 and became the fifth different player in club history with 50 assists and seventh different player with 70 points.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is five points from 100 for his NHL career (46-49-95, 380 GP).
• D Erik Gudbranson is six games from 800 for his NHL career (34-100-134, 794 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is four goals from 200 for his NHL career (196-182-378, 730 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is eight wins from 100 for his NHL career (92-98-35, 239 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is nine games from 200 for his CBJ career (27-29-56, 191 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (15 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 303

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS