By Joe Coopersmith

JAN. 9, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. SEATTLE KRAKEN

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:  93.3 The Bus   

Bob McElligott (play-by-play), Dylan Tyrer (host)

Kraken to Watch

• LW Jared McCann leads Seattle in goals (tied) and points with 13-16-29 in 41 outings in 2024-25 and has totaled 10-8-18 in 21 career games against Columbus after posting 1-1-2 in the first meeting of the season series on Nov. 12.
• D Brandon Montour, who won the 2024 Stanley Cup with Florida, leads club blueliners with 8-14-22 in his first 40 games with the Kraken, ranking fourth-T among NHL blueliners in goals.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 2-5-0 in seven all-time meetings vs. Seattle, including 1-2-0 at home.
• Seattle has won the last five games of the series dating back to Jan. 28, 2023 after CBJ earned overtime victories in both of the teams’ first two games in 2021-22.
• Each of the Kraken’s wins have been decided by multiple goals, while Columbus’ victories wer decided in overtime.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in five of the last six games of the series.
• CBJ have recorded power play goals in two-straight home games against the Kraken (2-of-7; 28.6 pct.).
• Both teams are looking for their first shutout, hat trick and penalty shot attempt in the all-time series.

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Nov. 12, 2024 – at SEA 5, CBJ 2
• Jan. 9, 2025 – at Columbus (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Kraken

• LW Zach Aston-Reese – 1-1-2 in 5 career GP, recording a multi-point outing in the first meeting of the 2024-25 season series.
• F Kent Johnson – 1-1-2 in 4 career GP, collecting an assist in the last contest at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 13, 2024.
• C Sean Kuraly – 1-2-3 in 5 career GP, recording 1-1-2 in the teams’ most recent meeting on Nov. 12.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 0-3-3 in 5 career GP, registering 2 assists in the first meeting of the season series on Nov. 12.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-1-2 in 5 career GP, recording his points in the teams’ last meeting at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 13, 2024.
• C Sean Monahan – 2-2-4 in 7 career GP, notching a 2-goal game (Dec. 4, 2023) in 4 career home contests against the club.
• D Ivan Provorov – 3-2-5 in 7 career GP, collecting points in his last two home contests against Seattle (2-1-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 3-1-4 in 6 career GP, including points in two of his three career home games against the Kraken (1-1-2).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus won its second-straight game and has collected points in seven of the last nine contests since Dec. 19 (6-2-1) following a 4-3 shootout win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.  The club leads the league in power play percentage (47.6) and ranks second-T in goals-for per game (3.89) and seventh in points percentage (.722) over that stretch.
• CBJ are 13-5-3 (29 points) at Nationwide Arena in 2024-25, posting the second-most points and third-most wins (tied) through the first 21 home games of a campaign in CBJ history (16-4-1, 33 points in 2016-17).
• The team has recorded points in 15 of its last 18 home games (12-3-3; .750 points pct) and leads the NHL in goals-for (4.22), while ranking second in power play pct. (34.7) and fourth-T in points pct. (.750) at home since Oct. 22.
• The Jackets are in a stretch of eight of 11 contests played at Nationwide Arena from Dec. 23-Jan. 16.
• The Blue Jackets’ 3.37 goals-for/game in 2024-25 are the sixth-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The club’s 138 goals (not including SO goals) are the most through the first 1 games of a season in franchise history, surpassing the 136 posted to start the 2016-17 campaign.
• The Blue Jackets scored in all three periods in regulation on Saturday vs. St. Louis and have accomplished the feat in six of the last nine games, including five of the last six home contests.  CBJ have scored in all three periods in a game 17 times this season, including 13 occasions at home.  Last season, the club scored in all three periods 20 times (10 times at home).
• The club has also registered 38 multi-goal frames after scoring two of its thre goals in the third period on Tuesday.
• Columbus has recorded six or more goals in nine of its first 41 games this season.  It’s tied with Florida and Winnipeg for the most games among all teams this season.  It’s the third time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in nine or more contests in a campaign.  The club set a franchise mark with 11 games of six or more goals in 2018-19, while recording six-plus goals nine times in 2021-22 and this season.
• Columbus is third in the league with 96 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season, trailing Vegas (99) and Washington (98).
• The Jackets scored the first goal at Pittsburgh and have scored the first goal in four-straight, eight of the last nine contests and in 25 (15-6-4) of the first 41 contests this season.  The team has scored first in 61.0 percent of its games, posting the second-highest percentage (Chicago, 62.5 pct.).
• The Jackets finished 2-of-2 on the power play on Tuesday and have now recorded a PPG in four-straight (5-of-9; 55.6 pct.).  The club has also recorded a PPG in 12 of the last 15 games (15-of-42; 35.7 pct.), ranking second in the league in PP pct since Dec. 8 (WPG; 37.2 pct.).  CBJ also rank third in the league in PP percentage at home since Dec. 8 (45.8 pct; 11-of-24).
• CBJ’s 43 first period goals are the fourth-most in the NHL and 52 third period goals are tied for fifth-most.
• Columbus plays its eighth (3-3-1) of 19 Thursday contests when it hosts Seattle.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners have posted 5-24-29 in the last nine games.  The team leads the league in goals by defensemen and ranks second-T in points and third in point percentage and fourth in assists and goal percentage with 26-78-104, 18.8 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.0 pct. of the team’s points in 41 contests.
• The trio of D Zach Werenski (12-34-46), RW Kirill Marchenko (17-28-45) and C Sean Monahan (14-27-41) averaged at least a point-per-game through the club’s first 41 contests.  It’s the first time in CBJ history that three teammates have collected 25 or more assists, as well as 40 or more points through their first 41 games of a campaign.
• F Kent Johnson has collected assists in two-straight games.  He has recorded points in 18 of his first 27 games this season (10-13-23) and has already surpassed his season totals from 2023-24 (6-10-16, 42 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko, who collected two assists on Tuesday at Pittsburgh, has recorded points in 10 of his last 12 games (7-11-16) and 13 of the last 16 (7-14-21).  He leads the club in goals (tied), multi-assist and multi-point efforts and ranks second in assists and points with 17-28-45, nine multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 41 contests.  He’s already set a single-season career high in assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24).  The forward ranks ninth-T in the league in points since Nov. 21 with 11-18-29 in 23 contests.
• C Sean Monahan notched an assist on Tuesday to stretch his points streak to four consecutive games (1-7-8).  He is tied for first in the league in scoring since Dec. 19 (MacKinnon, Marner) with 5-11-16 and five multi-point efforts in the least nine contests.  He ranks second on the club in multi-goal and multi-point games and third in goals, assists and points with 14-27-41, three multi-goal efforts and 12 multi-point outings in 41 contests.
• RW Mathieu Olivier, who notched a goal on Saturday, has already set single-season career highs in goals and points (5-10-15, 66 GP in 2022-23) and ranks first in the NHL in penalty minutes and fifth in hits with 10-6-16, 79 PIM and 147 hits in 41 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with seven-plus goals, 50 PIM and 100 hits in 2024-25.
• D Ivan Provorov, who tied his single-game career high in assists (2^nd time) and points (7^th time) with three assists in the win over St. Louis on Saturday, has collected 1-7-8 in the last 11 contests since Dec. 15.
• C Cole Sillinger has collected assists in two of the last three games.  He ranks fourth on the club in assists and sixth in points with 6-16-22 in 40 outings and is three assists shy of tying his single-season career high (77 GP in 2023-24).
• F Dmitri Voronkov has posted back-to-back two-goal efforts on Saturday and Tuesday and has posted six multi-point efforts in the last eight contests (9-4-13) and has notched points in nine of the last 11 contests (10-6-16).  The forward has registered 16-11-27 with nine multi-point efforts in his last 26 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.  He is tied with Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point for second in the NHL in goals dating back to Nov. 15, trailing only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (17 goals in 23 GP).
• D Zach Werenski, who has assists in four consecutive outings (1-6-7), also has four multi-assist outings in the last seven games (1-13-14).  He owns the club record for longest home points streak at 15 games (9-21-30) and is the ninth different defenseman in NHL history to post a run of at least that length and the first since Ray Bourque in 1992-93 (6-19-25 in 17 GP).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP and ranks second in shots on goal (David Pastrnak, 173) as well as ranks second among league blueliners in goals, assists and points with 12-34-46 and 161 shots on 26:32 of ice time in 41 contests this season.  He leads NHL blueliners in goals, assists, and points and is tied with forwards Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon and Mitch Marner among all skaters in scoring since Nov. 21 with 8-24-32 in 23 contests.  His 34 assists are the most in club history through 41 games (Panarin – 32, 2018-19) and his 46 points was one shy of Panarin’s club record (47, 2018-19).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• HC Dean Evason is eight games from 300 for his NHL HC career (165-94-33, 292 GC).
• LW Zach Aston-Reese is nine points from 100 for his NHL career (46-45-91, 350 GP).
• D Jake Christiansen is 16 games from 100 for his NHL career (2-12-14, 85 GP).
• C Adam Fantilli is 10 games from 100 for his NHL career (21-25-46, 90 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is six assists from 200 for his NHL career (73-194-267, 655 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is four points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (38-58-96, 260 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (41 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (38 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (20 Games)
• F Justin Danforth (lower body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Dec. 10 (13 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 161

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS