FEB. 25, 2023 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. EDMONTON OILERS

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  Bally Sports Ohio           Jeff Rimer (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Dave Maetzold (reporter)              
Radio:  97.1 The Fan              Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

Oilers to Watch

«  C Leon Draisaitl, ranks second in the League in points, fourth in assists and fifth-T in goals with 35-52-87 in 57 appearances this season and is currently on a six-game goal streak (6G) and seven-game points streak (6-5-11).

«  C Connor McDavid, who has captured the Art Ross Trophy for most points in each of the last two seasons, leads the NHL in goals, assists and points in 2022-23 with 46-63-109 in 59 GP and has recorded 4-8-12 over a five-game points streak.

«  G Stuart Skinner, ranks second among NHL rookie netminders in wins and save percentage (tied; min. 10 GP) with a 15-11-4 record, 2.89 GAA and a .913 SV% in 32 appearances in 2022-23. 

All-Time Series

«  The Blue Jackets have gone 24-34-6 in 64 all-time meetings vs. the Oilers, including 15-13-4 at Nationwide Arena.

«  CBJ recorded their first back-to-back wins against Edmonton since the 2016-17 season with a 3-2 OT victory earlier this season on Jan. 25 and with a 5-2 victory on Apr. 24, 2022.

«  Columbus is 6-3-0 in the last nine games against Edmonton at home, but the Oilers have won three of the last four.

«  The winning team had scored four or more goals in eight-straight meetings before Columbus’ 3-2 comeback win in overtime at Edmonton last month.

«  The Oilers own six of the eight shutouts in the all-time series with the last one registered on Mar. 2, 2019 (Koskinen 30 saves in 4-0 win at CBJ).

«  The Blue Jackets have registered three of the four hat tricks in the all-time series and all three penalty shot attempts.

This Season (CBJ, 1-0-0)

«  Jan. 25, 2023 – CBJ 3, at EDM 2 (OT)

«  Feb. 25, 2023 – at COLUMBUS (12:30 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Oilers

«  D Adam Boqvist – 1-4-5 in 3 career GP with points in all three contests, including two assists in the Jan. 25 game earlier this season.

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 16-21-37 in 42 career GP, including points in each of his last four games (1-8-9) and seven of his past eight overall (3-10-13) as well as points in four-straight home contests (3-7-10) and 10 of his last 11 outings at home (5-13-18).

«  C Kent Johnson – 1-1-2 in 2 career GP, including notching the OT GWG in the most previous meeting against Edmonton earlier this season.

«  LW Patrik Laine – 4-3-7 in 12 career GP, including points in his five of his past seven against the club (2-3-5) after notching an assist in the game on Jan. 25 earlier this year.

«  RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-0-1 in 1 career GP, including recording the third period tying goal at Edmonton last month.

«  G Elvis Merzlikins – 1-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .928 SV% in 3 career GP, including stopping 33-of-35 shots in a win in his most recent contest against the club on Apr. 24, 2022.

«  C Cole Sillinger – 1-2-3 in 3 career GP, including 1-1-2 in his lone home game against the club on Apr. 24, 2022.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ will celebrate the youngest members of The 5^th Line with Kids Takeover Day, presented by Bob Evans.  The game will feature young fans integrated into various game-night positions.  For more information, visit BlueJackets.com/kidstakeover.
• The Blue Jackets play their 12^th of 17 back-to-back sets vs. Edmonton (Saturday) and at Minnesota (Sunday).
• Columbus had its three-game points streak (2-0-1) snapped with a 2-0 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.
• The club has registered points in four of its last six contests (3-2-1) with wins against three of the top-11 teams in the League (Toronto 4^th; Dallas 8^th-T; Winnipeg 11^th).
• CBJ have allowed 16 goals over their last seven games, ranking fifth in the NHL in goals-against/game (2.29) since returning from the NHL break on February 10.
• Trailing 1-0 to Winnipeg last Thursday, the Blue Jackets earned their ninth comeback victory of the campaign.  The club has come-from-behind to win in four of its last five victories, trailing 2-0 and 3-2 in a 5-3 win vs. San Jose (Jan. 21), 2-1 in a 3-2 OT win at Edmonton (Jan. 25), 2-0 in a 4-3 win at Toronto (Feb. 11) and 1-0 in the 3-1 win vs. Winnipeg (Feb. 16).
• The Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in three of the last six games (3-for-13; 23.0 pct.) and are 8-for-35 on the man advantage over the last 13 contests dating back to January 21 (22.8 pct).
• Columbus blueliners have registered 8-22-30 in the last 19 contests and 24-63-87 in 58 games this season after combining for three assists at Arizona.
• With F Liam Foudy’s goal against Dallas on Saturday, every player on the 22-man active roster has scored a goal in 2022-23.  The club has had a League-high 26 different goal scorers this season.
• CBJ rookies have combined for 21-17-38 over the last 27 games and lead all NHL teams in goals and rank second in points with 34-34-68 in 58 contests in 2022-23.  It’s the third-most goals scored by team rookies in franchise history and trailing only 2017-18 (37) and 2019-20 (35). RW Kirill Marchenko (14) and C Kent Johnson (12) are the third pair of rookie teammates to score double digit goals in a single season in club history, joining C Serge Aubin (13) and RW David Vyborny (13) in 2000-01 and C Pierre-Luc Dubois (20) and LW Sonny Milano (14) in 2017-18.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• D Adam Boqvist had his career-high four-game point streak (2-3-5) snapped on Thursday.  He ranks 18^th among NHL blueliners in scoring since January 5^th with 2-12-14 in 18 contests.  The 22-year-old has registered 2-13-15 in 26 appearances in 2022-23 and sits one assist shy of tying his single-season career high (14 in 35 GP with CHI in 2020-21).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau, who missed the weekend back-to-back at Dallas and Arizona with a lower body injury, returned Thursday against the Wild.  He leads the team in assists and points and ranks third in goals with 15-37-52 in 56 contests this season.  He set the franchise record for fewest games played to record 50 career points (53 GP), surpassing the mark set by Ray Whitney (56 GP).
• C Boone Jenner picked up his seventh multi-point game of the season after collecting points on both Blue Jackets goals at Arizona on Sunday (1-1-2).  The forward, who leads the team in goals (17), has notched 3-3-6 in his last six outings and 6-4-10 in the past 13 games.
• C Kent Johnson has registered 4-4-8 in his past 13 contests.  He ranks fifth-T among League rookies in points and sixth in goals with 12-15-27 in 55 games.
• G Joonas Korpisalo has turned aside 88-of-92 shots  in his past three games (.956 SV%), including victories over Winnipeg and Dallas last week.  He ranks fourth-T in the NHL in SV% since December 9 (min. 13 GP) with a 6-6-2 record, 2.73 GAA and .923 SV% in 16 games.
• C Sean Kuraly, who posted a career-high 10 hits on Sunday at Arizona, leads the team and ranks 12^th-T among NHL forwards in hits with 150 in 56 contests this season.
• LW Patrik Laine registered 2-2-4 in four contents last week, including notching his 16^th goal of the season against the Coyotes.  He has posted 7-12-19 with five multi-point efforts in 19 outings since January 10^th.
• RW Kirill Marchenko ranks second-T among NHL rookie goal scorers in 2022-23 with 14-1-15 in 35 games but leads League rookies in goals and ranks fifth in points since making his NHL debut on December 6.
• D Andrew Peeke ranks 13^th-T in the NHL in blocked shots this season (121) and has registered a blocked shot in 50 of his 56 contests this season.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• GM Jarmo Kekalainen is seven games from 800 for his NHL GM career.
• D Gavin Bayreuther is two games from 100 for his NHL career (5-16-21, 98 GP).
• D Erik Gudbranson is two games from 700 for his NHL career (28-76-104, 698 GP).
• LW Patrik Laine is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-170-263, 450 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Jake Bean (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 17); out 4-to-6 months (43 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (ankle) is on Injured Reserve (Dec. 20); 4 weeks (27 games)
• C/RW Justin Danforth (torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (52 games)
• RW Carson Meyer (oblique strain) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 10); 6-to-8 weeks (18 games)
• LW Gustav Nyquist (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 25); expected to miss rest of reg. season (10 games)
• C Cole Sillinger (illness) is day-to-day (1 game)
• LW Jakub Voracek (upper body) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (47 games)
• D Zach Werenski (shoulder separation/torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); expected to miss rest or reg. season (45 games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 399

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