By Joe Coopersmith

OCT. 15, 2024 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  Bally Sports Ohio Steve Mears (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (analyst), Dave Maetzold  (reporter)

Radio:  97.1 The Fan    Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

PR Twitter          @BlueJacketsPR

Websites/Links              BlueJackets.com/PressBox; BlueJackets.com/MediaGuide

Game Notes    Game Notes are available at Media.NHL.com

Arena WiFi        WAP:  NWArenaWIFI (no password required)

Panthers to Watch

• C Sam Bennett has recorded points in each of the Panthers’ three games this season (3-1-4).  He has recorded 40-plus points in each of the last three campaigns with the club, including 20-21-41 in 69 outings in 2023-24.
• C Sam Reinhart set career highs in goals and points, while finishing second in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy (NHL’s top goal scorer) in 2023-24 with 57-37-94 in 82 contests with the Panthers.

All-Time Series

• The Blue Jackets have gone 26-19-5 in 50 all-time games against the Panthers, including 16-6-3 at home.
• Florida has won the last five-straight contests in the all-time series since Dec. 13, 2022 (CBJ; 0-4-1).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 11-straight outings in the series and 14 of the past 15 dating back to Mar. 9, 2021.
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in seven of the last nine meetings.
• Columbus has recorded three of the 10 shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins’ posting the most recent one for the Jackets with 32 saves in a 1-0 OT win at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 4, 2020.
• The Jackets have posted two hat tricks in the all-time series (Deron Quint on Mar. 9, 2001 and Zach Werenski on Dec. 31, 2019).

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Oct. 15, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)
• Mar. 6, 2025 – at Florida (7 p.m. ET)
• Mar. 20, 2025 – at COLUMBUS (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Panthers

• C Sean Monahan – 7-6-13 in 18 career GP, including points in five of his last six home games against the Panthers (4-4-8).
• D Damon Severson – 3-10-13 in 23 career GP, including assists in three of his last five home contests (0-3-3).
• D Zach Werenski – 7-8-15 in 22 career GP, including points in seven of his last nine games at Nationwide Arena against the club (4-5-9).

HONORING JOHNNY & MATTHEW GAUDREAU

• The Blue Jackets will honor the memory of LW Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, during the 2024-25 season with a special “13 & 21” helmet sticker and “13” patch on their jerseys.
• Tuesday’s contest against the Panthers will include a pre-game video and ceremony beginning at 7 p.m. prior to the 7:13 p.m. puck drop.
• Fans can visit a special concourse tribute that includes jerseys and items placed at Nationwide Arena in remembrance of the brothers.
• Everyone in attendance will receive a “13” patch to match the one Blue Jackets players will wear on their jerseys throughout the season.
• Fans will also have opportunities to help raise funds for the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation throughout the evening with a jersey auction, 50/50 raffle, gameday auction and Gaudreau lapel pin sale.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus split its season-opening two-game road trip, falling 3-2 at Minnesota on Oct. 10 and earning a 6-4 victory at Colorado on Oct. 12.
• The eight goals score are tied for the second-most through the first two games of a season in franchise history (Oct. 9-11, 2014), trailing only the 10 goals recorded in the first two contests of the 2021-22 campaign (Oct. 14-16).
• The Jackets play seven of their next eight at Nationwide Arena from Oct. 15-Nov. 1, including a four-game homestand from Oct. 15-22 (Florida, Buffalo, Minnesota, Toronto).
• After opening with two games against the Western Conference, the Blue Jackets play two-straight against the Atlantic Division.  CBJ play five of their first eight games of the season against the Western Conference.
• The team plays 17 Tuesday games during the 2024-25 season with eight contests played at Nationwide Arena.
• Columbus, which scored the first two goals at Colorado on Saturday, scored the first goal of the game 45 times in 2023-24, tied for the ninth-most in the NHL and finishing with the fourth-most in a season in franchise history.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• The Blue Jackets’ average age of their opening-day roster was 27.3, the seventh-youngest team in the NHL.  Columbus was tied for the third-youngest team to begin the 2023-24 campaign at 25.9.
• CBJ saw 11 players make their team debuts in 2023-24, including six make their NHL debuts.
• The club had 42 different players (skaters/goaltenders) and five different goaltenders play a game in 2023-24.
• Four players made their Blue Jackets debut in Thursday’s season opener at Minnesota with forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Kevin Labanc, Sean Monahan and James van Riemsdyk all suiting up against the Wild.  Two others on the 23-player roster are looking for their CBJ debut with forward Dylan Gambrell and defenseman Jordan Harris.
• F Kent Johnson and D Zach Werenski recorded goals at Minnesota and Colorado last week, becoming the second set of teammates to score in the club’s first two games of a season in franchise history (RW Cam Atkinson & C Artem Anisimov from Oct. 9-11, 2014).  LW Kristian Huselius (Oct. 8-15, 2010) and LW Sonny Milano (Oct. 6-10, 2017) own the franchise mark for longest goal streak to start the season, scoring in the club’s first three games to start the 2010-11 and 2017-18 campaigns, respectively.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov notched his second career three-game outings (Dec. 8, 2023 vs. STL) after posting 1-2-3 in Saturday’s victory at Colorado.
• F Kent Johnson has recorded three points in the first two games (2-1-3), including goals in each contest.  He set career highs during his rookie season in 2022-23, finishing with 16-24-40 in 79 outings.
• RW Kirill Marchenko tied his career high with his third three-point effort at Colorado on Saturday (1-2-3).  He notched his 45^th career goal with the tally and trails only Boone Jenner (48) for the most goals with the club since 2022-23.  With another 20-goal campaign in 2024-25 can become the first player in club history to hit the 20-goal mark in each of his first three NHL seasons.
• C Sean Monahan collected his first points with the Blue Jackets on Saturday and became the first player in franchise history to record three points on his birthday after recording 1-2-3 while celebrating his 30^th birthday.  He has notched double-digit goals in nine of his 11 campaigns and has recorded 20-plus goals eight times, including 26-33-59 in 83 contests split between Montreal and Winnipeg in 2023-24.
• D Damon Severson has registered assists in both games this season (0-2-2).  He posted 9-19-28 in 67 games in his first season with the club in 2023-24.
• D Zach Werenski has scored goals in each of the first two contests (2-0-2).  He is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 92-212-304 in 488 games and sits 13 points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.  He set club records for most assists and points (tied) in a single season in 2023-24 with 11-46-57 in 70 outings.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Erik Gudbranson is one assist from 100 and nine games from 800 for his NHL career (34-99-133, 791 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals away from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career goal (192-172-364, 715 GP).
• D Jack Johnson is 11 games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-259-336, 1,189 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is 18 games from 500 for his NHL career (58-78-136, 482 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 20 games from 500 for his NHL career (82-143-225, 480 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is eight games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (68-80-30, 192 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is four assists from 300 for his NHL career (245-296-541, 766 GP).
• D Damon Severson is seven points from 300 for his NHL career (67-226-293, 716 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is eight goals from 100 and 12 games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (92-212-304, 488 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Justin Danforth (wrist) is on the Injured/Non-Roster List on Oct. 7 (2 Games)
• F Boone Jenner (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7 (2 Games)
• LW Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 4  (2 Games)
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3 (2 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 8

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