By Lydia Jane Allison

DEC. 15, 2024 II LENOVO CENTER II AT CAROLINA HURRICANES

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)

Hurricanes to Watch

• C Sebastian Aho ranks second on the Hurricanes in assists and points with 7-23-30 in 29 contests in 2024-25 and has registered 14-14-28 in 34 career outings against the Blue Jackets.
• C Martin Necas ranks fifth in the NHL in assists and sixth in points with 14-29-43 in 29 games in 2024-25, recording multiple points in 14 contests, including two assists in the first meeting on Nov. 23.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 28-28-5 in 61 all-time games against Carolina, including 13-14-3 on the road.
• CBJ have won the last two meetings (both at Nationwide Arena), while the home team has won seven of the last nine games in the series since Feb. 25, 2022.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 10 of the last 12 meetings and won by multiple goals in nine of the last 12 contests dating back to Oct. 23, 2021.
• The Blue Jackets own four of the seven shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins (31 saves in 6-0 win at Carolina on Jan. 13, 2022) posting the most recent CBJ shutout.
• CBJ have also posted all four hat tricks (MR: Marchenko, Jan. 7, 2023) and lone penalty shot attempt (Atkinson goal on Feb. 8, 2021) in the series.

This Season (CBJ, 1-0-0)

• Nov. 23, 2024 – at CBJ 5, CAR 4 (SO)
• Dec. 15, 2024 – at CAROLINA (5 pm ET)
• Dec. 31, 2024 – at COLUMBUS (8 pm ET)
• Jan. 23, 2025 – at CAROLINA (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Hurricanes

• D Dante Fabbro – 2-4-6 in 11 career GP, including goals in two of his last three contests against the club after scoring on Nov. 23 at Nationwide Arena.
• C Kent Johnson – 0-4-4 in 3 career GP, with multiple assists in two of his contests after setting up two CBJ goals on Nov. 23.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 2-5-7 in 13 career GP, including assists in two of his last four at Carolina (0-2-2).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 6-1-7 in 7 career GP, including points in two-straight (2-1-3) after notching his second career multi-goal game against Carolina on Nov. 23.
• C Sean Monahan – 6-7-13 in 17 career GP, including points in each of his past three contests (1-2-3) as well as four of his last six at Carolina (1-3-4).
• C Cole Sillinger – 2-2-4 in 12 career GP, including points in two of his past four outings (1-1-2).
• D Zach Werenski – 6-8-14 in 28 career GP, including assists in two-straight (2-3-5) as well as four of his last six (2-5-7).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets have earned points in two-straight games (2-1 OTL to WSH on Thursday and 4-3 OTL to ANA on Saturday) as well as three of the last four contests (1-1-2).
• The club has earned points in 10 of its last 15 games (7-5-3, 17 points), ranking fourth in the NHL in goals per game (3.53, 53) and seventh-T in points since Nov. 15.
• The team, which heads to the road for two-straight at Carolina (Dec. 15) and Tampa Bay (Dec. 17), closed out a three-game homestand on Saturday against Anaheim.  CBJ are in a stretch of 6-of-9 games played at home from Dec. 10-27.
• CBJ are 3-3-0 on the road in the last six road contests since Nov. 18, defeating Boston, Chicago and Winnipeg over that stretch.
• CBJ have recorded points in 10 of their last 12 games played at Nationwide Arena (7-2-3), outscoring their opponents 48-38 over that stretch (not including SO goals).  The Jackets rank second in the NHL in goals per game (4.00) and sixth-T in points percentage (.708) at home since Oct. 22.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in seven of its first 30 games this season.  It’s tied for the second-most games among all teams (Florida & Washington), trailing only Winnipeg (9).  It’s the fifth time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in seven or more contests in a campaign.  The club set a franchise mark with 11 games of six or more goals in 2018-19.
• The club’s 99 goals (not including SO goals) are tied for the second-most through the first 30 games of a season in franchise history (2016-17), trailing only the 102 recorded to start the 2018-19 campaign.
• Columbus’ 3.30 goals-for/game in 2024-25 is the ninth-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The Jackets have scored in 61-of-90 periods in regulation this season after scoring in the first (twice) and third periods on Saturday.  The club has also registered 28 multi-goal frames, including 12 multi-goal first periods.
• Columbus’ 71 goals scored at 5-on-5 play are the fourth-most in the NHL this season, trailing only Washington (77), Vegas (73) and Tampa Bay (72).
• The Jackets, who have scored the first goal of the game in 10 of the last 18 contests, have scored first in 17 (9-5-3) of the first 30 games this season.
• The Blue Jackets play 11-of-12 games against the Eastern Conference from Dec. 10-Jan. 2 (Dec. 14 vs. ANA).  The club is also in a stretch of 4-of-6 contests played against Metropolitan Division foes from Dec. 10-19 (PHI-2, CAR-1, NJD-1).
• CBJ finished 1-of-2 on the man advantage against Anaheim and have recorded power play goals in four-straight games (4-of-11; 36.4 pct.) for the first time this season.  The club’s 36.4 PP percentage is the fifth-highest over the past week of the campaign.
• The team concludes its fifth of 12 back-to-back sets of the season – and second of three in the month of December – when it visits Carolina on Sunday.
• Columbus also plays its fourth (2-1-0) of eight Sunday games – all played on the road – when it visits Carolina.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ leads the league in goals and goal percentage by defensemen and rank third in points percentage and fourth in points with 21-53-74, 21.2 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.0 pct. of the team’s points in 30 contests.
• F Kent Johnson stretched his points streak to four-straight (3-3-6, two multi-point efforts) and assists streak to three consecutive (1-3-4) with an assist on Saturday.  He has recorded points in 13 of his first 16 games this season (9-9-18), including all nine of his contests at Nationwide Arena (4-8-12).  He’s the second player to record points in his first nine home games of a campaign, joining Cam Atkinson (10 GP in 2015-16 and 2016-17).
• RW Kirill Marchenko notched his first power play goal of the campaign on Saturday and has picked up points in four of the last five contests (1-3-4) and recorded 5-7-12 in the last 12 games.  The forward leads the club in goals and multi-point efforts and ranks second in assists and points with 11-17-28 and eight multi-point outings in 30 contests.  He is already two assists shy of tying his single-season career high (19, 2023-24).
• C Sean Monahan had his three-game points streak (1-2-3) snapped on Saturday.  He has picked up 3-11-14 with four multi-point efforts in his last 15 games.  The forward ranks second-T on the club in multi-point outings and third in goals (tied), assists and points with 9-16-25 and seven multi-point outings in 30 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier, who collected an assist on Saturday, has already set a single-season career high in goals and ranks third in the NHL in penalty minutes and sixth in hits with 8-4-12, 56 PIM and 109 hits in 30 games.  He is one of two players (Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa) with five-plus goals, 40 PIM and 80 hits in 2024-25.
• D Damon Severson has collected points in four of the last six games (2-2-4) after registering an assist against Anaheim.  He has also registered 2-7-9 in the last 12 contests dating back to Nov. 21.  He ranks ninth-T among NHL defensemen in goals and second among club blueliners in goals, assists and points with 6-11-17 in 30 contests.
• C Cole Sillinger notched a goal on Saturday and has recorded 3-8-11 in his last 14 contests since Nov. 15.   A season after setting a single-season career high in assists (19), he ranks fourth on the club in assists and points with 5-14-19 in his first 29 outings.
• LW James van Riemsdyk notched a goal against the Ducks on Saturday and has collected 1-3-4 in the past four contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov has notched 6-5-11 with three multi-point efforts in his last 15 games.
• D Zach Werenski has recorded power play points in four-straight games (2-2-4), including scoring his 100^th career goal on Thursday against Philadelphia.  He has recorded points in 14 of the past 17 games (7-15-22).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native, who was named to Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Dec. 4, leads the NHL in TOI/GP and league blueliners in goals and shots on goal while ranking third in points and fifth-T in assists with 10-21-31 and 109 shots on 26:14 of ice time in 30 contests this season.  With 100-233-333 in 516 games played, he’s passed Rostislav Klesla (515 GP) for third on the club’s all-time games played list for defensemen, became the first blueliner – and eighth player – in CBJ history with 100 career goals and now sits one point shy of tying Nick Foligno (334 points in 599 GP) for fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is 10 points from 100 for his NHL career (46-44-90, 339 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is five points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (55-40-95, 167 GP).
• C Sean Monahan is six games from 800 for his NHL career (253-310-563, 794 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is two games from 200 for his NHL career (21-25-46, 198 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is one game from 250 and seven points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (37-56-93, 249 GP).
• F Dmitri Voronkov is four games from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (25-21-46, 96 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (30 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (27 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (9 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); (2 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 113

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS