By Joe Coopersmith

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)

Sharks to Watch

• C Mikael Granlund has posted 6-8-14 with four multi-point efforts in the first 13 games of 2024-25, leading the team in goals (tied), assists (tied), points, power play goals (3) and power play points (7).
• C Tyler Toffoli leads the Sharks in even strength goals and goals (tied) and ranks second in points with 6-5-11 and five ES goals in 13 contests.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 28-34-0-5 in 67 all-time meetings vs. the Sharks, including 10-21-0-2 on the road.
• The Jackets have won the last four games overall against San Jose dating back to Jan. 21, 2023 (4-0-0).  It’s tied for CBJ’s longest win streak in the all-time series (also Feb. 21, 2012-Apr. 21, 2013).
• Columbus has won five of the last six games vs. San Jose in the all-time series and scored more than four goals in each of the victories.
• CBJ have won two-straight at San Jose and are 7-4-0 in the last 11 visits to SAP Center at San Jose dating back to Apr. 21, 2013.
• The winning team has scored four-plus goals in four-straight and eight of the last 11 since Mar. 4, 2018.
• The Blue Jackets own half of the shutouts (6-of-12; MR: Bobrovsky, 26 saves in 4-0 W at CBJ on Feb. 23, 2019), hat tricks (3-of-6; MR: Carter in 6-3 W at CBJ on Feb. 21, 2012) and penalty shot attempts (2-of-4; MR: Nash unsuccessful attempt in 2-1 OTL on Feb. 8, 2008 at SJS).

This Season (CBJ, 0-0-0)

• Nov. 5, 2024 – at SAN JOSE (10:30 pm ET)
• Jan. 16, 2025 – at COLUMBUS (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Sharks

• RW Yegor Chinakhov – 0-2-2 in 1 career GP, collecting his 5^th career multi-assist effort in the last game at SAP Center on Feb. 17, 2024.
• C Justin Danforth – 0-2-2 in 3 career GP, including an assists in his first two career games against the club.
• C Sean Kuraly – 2-2-4 in 9 career GP, including 2-0-2 in his last four outings against San Jose.
• C Sean Monahan – 9-11-20 in 37 career GP, including his most assists and points in a single game with 0-5-5 on Dec. 31, 2018 vs. the Sharks.
• D Ivan Provorov – 2-4-6 in 13 career GP, including assists in each of his last three games against San Jose overall (0-3-3) and assists in consecutive appearances at SAP Center.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 4-5-9 in 22 career GP, with four points in his last five games vs San Jose (3-1-4) as well as points in his last two contests at SAP Center (1-1-2).
• D Zach Werenski – 4-2-6 in 11 career GP, recording points in both games of the 2023-24 series (1-1-2) and picking up 3-2-5 in his last six games against the Sharks overall.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus fell in a back-to-back set last week to Winnipeg (6-2) and at Washington (7-2).  The club had its three-game home win streak and four-game overall points streak (3-0-1) snapped following the loss to the Jets on Friday.
• CBJ finished the month of October with a 5-3-1 record.  The .611 points percentage is the fourth-highest for the month of October in franchise history, trailing only .682 in Oct. 2007 (7-3-1), .667 in Oct. 2017 (8-4-0) and .625 in Oct. 2021 (5-3-0).
• Saturday’s contest at Washington kicked off a five-game road trip that includes four games played on the west coast with stops at San Jose (Nov. 5), Los Angeles (Nov. 9), Anaheim (Nov. 10) and Seattle (Nov. 12).  It’s part of a stretch of seven-of-eight games played away from Nationwide Arena from Nov. 2-18.
• The Blue Jackets have scored 39 goals through the first 11 games of the 2024-25 season, tying the franchise record set in the first 11 games of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Columbus set a new club record for fewest games to 30 goals in a season (8), besting the previous nine games in 2009-10, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
• The club’s 3.55 goals-for/game in 2024-25 ranks 11th in the NHL.
• CBJ, who scored two goals in the second period on Saturday at Washington, have scored in 23-of-33 periods in regulation this season.  The team has also registered 13 multi-goal frames.
• Columbus’ 32 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are tied for the third-most in the NHL this season (Florida in 13 GP), trailing Vegas (40 in 12 GP) and Washington (34 in 11 GP).
• The club has had 15 different goal scorers this season after RW Kevin Labanc notched his first goal as a Jacket on Saturday at Washington.
• Columbus has scored the first goal in seven (5-1-1 when scoring first) of the 11 games this season, failing to score first against Minnesota (Oct. 10 and 19), Winnipeg (Nov. 1), and Washington on Saturday.
• CBJ have killed off 13-of-15 opponent power play chances over the last six games (86.7 pct.; 7th in NHL since Oct. 22).  The club has also killed off 17-of-20 chances over the past eight (85 pct.; 8^th-T in NHL since Oct. 17).
• CBJ play their third (1-1-0) of 17 Tuesday games (nine away) when they visit the Sharks.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ has four players that are averaging .80 points-per-game or better to start the season: F Kent Johnson (1.25, 2-3-5 in 4 GP), RW Kirill Marchenko (1.09, 4-8-12 in 11 GP), C Sean Monahan (1.00, 6-5-11 in 11 GP), D Zach Werenski (.82, 3-6-9 in 11 GP).  In addition, F Kevin Labanc (.75, 1-5-6 in 8 GP), RW Yegor Chinakhov (.73, 3-5-8 in 11 GP) and C Cole Sillinger (.73, 2-6-8 in 11 GP) are averaging at least .70 points-per-game.
• RW Yegor Chinakhov has recorded points in six of 11 games (3-5-8), including kicking off the season with a five-game points streak for the second-longest points streak of his career (6-4-10 in six-straight games from Dec. 8-21, 2023) and tied for the third-longest points streak at the start of a campaign in club history (Ryan Johansen – 10 games from Oct. 9-31, 2014; Nick Foligno – six games from Oct. 9-23, 2014).
• C Adam Fantilli registered an assist on Saturday and has recorded 1-3-4 in the last five contests.
• RW Kevin Labanc (1-5-6, 8 GP), who totaled 82-143-225 in 478 career games with San Jose from 2016-24, notched his first goal as a Blue Jacket at Washington on Saturday and has recorded a point in six of his eight games with the club this season.
• RW Kirill Marchenko collected an assist on Friday and has points in four of the last six games (2-4-6).  The forward has 4-8-12 with points in seven of the 11 contests in 2024-25.  He leads the club in assists, points and multi-game efforts (4) and ranks second-T in goals.
• G Elvis Merzlikins has turned aside 95-of-102 shots faced in three games played last week (2-1-0, .931 SV%).  He moved into sole possession of fourth place on the club’s all-time list for shutouts (11) after turning aside all 26 shots faced in a 2-0 win over the NY Islanders on Wednesday.
• C Sean Monahan (6-5-11, 11 GP) posted a point in both games of the back-to-back set last week (1-1-2) and has collected points in seven of the 11 contests this season.  He leads the club in goals and power play goals (3) and ranks second in points.  He notched six goals in the first 10 games of the campaign, tied for the most of any player in the first 10 games as a Blue Jacket (Antoine Vermette, 2009; Patrik Laine, 2021; Alex Nylander, 2024).
• RW Mathieu Olivier (4-2-6, 11 GP) sits one goal shy of tying his career high (66 GP in 2022-23; 54 GP in 2023-24).
• C Cole Sillinger has collected 1-3-4 in his last four games, including picking up his fourth career three-point outings with 1-2-3 on Oct. 28 vs. Edmonton.  A season after setting a career high in assists (19), he ranks second-T on the club in that category with 2-6-8 in 11 outings.
• LW James van Riemsdyk collected an assist on Friday vs. Winnipeg and has points in three of the past five contests (1-2-3).
• D Zach Werenski registered an assist on Friday and has posted points in four of the last six games (1-4-5).  He ranks fourth-T among NHL blueliners in shots on goal, fifth-T in goals as well as eighth-T in points with 3-6-9 and 40 shots in 11 contests this season.  The 27-year-old is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader in goals, assists and points by a defenseman with 93-218-311 in 497 games and sits six points shy of tying David Vyborny (317) for fifth on the all-time points list.  He also ranks seventh among NHL blueliners in goals since making his NHL debut in 2016-17 (NSH’s Roman Josi, 130).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• D Jack Johnson is three games from 1,200 for his NHL career (77-260-337, 1,197 GP).
• C Sean Kuraly is nine games from 500 for his NHL career (59-80-139, 491 GP).
• RW Kevin Labanc is 14 games from 500 for his NHL career (83-148-231, 486 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is four games from 200 for his CBJ/NHL career (70-82-30, 196 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is one assist from 300 for his NHL career (250-299-549, 775 GP).
• D Damon Severson is three points from 300 for his NHL career (70-227-297, 725 GP).
• D Zach Werenski is seven goals from 100 and three games from 500 for his CBJ/NHL career (93-218-311, 497 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (11 Games)
• C Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3; (11 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (8 Games)
• F Kent Johnson (upper body); (7 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 51

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS