By Joe Coopersmith

1 25 2025

JAN. 25, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. LOS ANGELES KINGS

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)

Kings to Watch

• RW Adrian Kempe leads the Kings in goals and points and ranks third in assists with 24-20-44 in 45 contests this season.
• C Anze Kopitar leads the Kings in assists and ranks second in points with 12-31-43 in 45 games in 2024-25 and has posted 20-22-42 in 46 career appearances against Columbus.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 27-33-8 in 68 all-time meetings vs. the Kings, including 17-11-5 at home.
• The Jackets have recorded points in five consecutive home games of the series (3-0-2) and nine of the past 12 at Nationwide Arena since Mar. 8, 2012 (6-3-3).
• The home team has recorded points in seven-straight games of the all-time series (5-0-2) and 14 of the last 16 meetings dating back to Dec. 8, 2015 (11-2-3).
• Four of the last nine games between the two teams dating back to Dec. 19, 2019 have been decided in overtime with each team recording two OT victories.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in five-straight and 11 of the last 13 contests.
• The club has recorded power play goals in three of the past five meetings (4-of-12; 33.3 pct.).
• CBJ have killed off 19-of-22 Kings power play chances in the last 10 games overall (86.4 pct.).  The team has also stopped all 12 Los Angeles PP opportunities over the past six home games and 20-of-21 over the last 10 at home (95.2 pct.).
• Three of the four Columbus shutouts against the Kings in the all-time serves have been recorded at Los Angeles, including the most recent by Curtis Sanford, who had 31 saves in a 1-0 victory on Jan. 7, 2012.

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Nov. 9, 2024 – at LAK 5, CBJ 2
• Jan. 25, 2025 – at Columbus (7 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Kings

• F Justin Danforth – 1-2-3 in 5 career GP, notching two assists in the first meeting of the season series.
• C Adam Fantilli – 0-2-2 in 2 career GP, recording assists in both career games against the club.
• RW Kevin Labanc – 7-7-14 in 30 career GP, including points in five of his past seven home contests (2-3-5).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 3-0-3 in 5 career GP, including goals in both of his career home games (2-0-2).
• D Ivan Provorov – 3-5-8 in 15 career GP, including a goal in the first meeting of the season series as well as 0-4-4 in the last five home contests.
• D Damon Severson – 0-6-6 in 16 career GP, including assists in two of the past three contests at home (0-3-3).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 7-11-18 in 23 career GP, including assists in each of his last four games overall against Los Angeles (3-4-7) as well as multiple points in his last two home games (3-2-5) and three of his past four at home (4-4-8).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus split a back-to-back set (1-1-0) with a 5-1 win at Toronto on Wednesday and 7-4 loss at Carolina on Thursday.  The club has registered points in eight of the past 10 contests (7-2-1), including posting a season-high six-game win streak from Jan. 4-16 and seven-game point streak from Jan. 4-18 (6-0-1).
• The club has collected points in 13 of the last 17 contests since Dec. 19 (11-4-2).  The Jackets rank second in the league in goals-for- per game (3.47) and power play pct. (34.3) and fourth in wins, points and points percentage (.706) over that stretch.
• CBJ have improved their numbers over the past month of the season compared to the first 9.5 weeks (Oct. 16-Dec. 18), including goals-for per game (3.22 to 3.47), goals-against average (3.63 to 2.88), power play pct. (18.2 to 34.3) and penalty kill pct. (72.5 to 80.0).  The club sat in eighth place in the division and Wild Card race at 12-15-5 (29 points) on Dec. 18.
• The Jackets have allowed two goals or less in six of the past eight contests and rank sixth in the NHL in goals-against per game since Jan. 9 (2.13, 17 goals total).
• The Jackets reached 50 points on the campaign on Jan. 16, marking the fifth time in franchise history CBJ reached the mark in 45 games or less and first since 2019-20 (44 GP).
• CBJ are 16-5-3 (35 points) at Nationwide Arena in 2024-25, posting the second-most wins (tied) and points through the first 24 home games of a campaign in CBJ history (18-5-1, 37 points in 2016-17).  The club leads the league in goals-for per game (4.08) and ranks second in power play pct. (29.5) and sixth in points pct. (.729) at home in 2024-25.
• The team has recorded points in 18 of its last 21 home games (15-3-3; .786 points pct) and leads the NHL in goals-for (4.19), while ranking third in points pct. and power play pct. (32.1) at home since Oct. 22.
• Columbus completed its first of two four-game road trips over a nine-game stretch from Jan. 18-Feb. 4 on Thursday.  The lone home game during that time is Saturday against Los Angeles.
• The Blue Jackets’ 3.31 goals-for/game in 2024-25 are tied for sixth-highest in the NHL.  The club averaged a franchise-best 3.15 goals-per-game during the 2021-22 season.
• The club’s 162 goals (not including SO goals) are the second-most through the first 49 games of a season in franchise history, trailing only 2016-17 (164).
• The Blue Jackets scored in all three periods at Toronto on Wednesday and have scored in all three periods in regulation in nine of the last 17 games (seven of the last nine home contests).  CBJ have scored in all three periods in a game 20 times this season, including 15 occasions at home.  Last season, the club scored in all three periods 20 times (10 times at home).
• CBJ are tied with Winnipeg for the NHL lead with 10 six-goal games this season, most recently recording the feat on Jan. 9 vs. Seattle.  It’s the second time in franchise history that CBJ have scored at least six goals in 10 or more contests in a campaign after setting the club record with 11 occurrences in 2018-19.
• Columbus was the first team to reach 100 even strength goals this season (101), reaching the mark against Seattle on Jan. 9.  The club leads the league in goals scored during 5-on-5 play (114).
• The Jackets have scored first three-straight and in 10 of the last 12 contests after jumping out to a 2-0 lead at Carolina on Thursday. The club has also scored first in 14 of the last 17 contests and in 31 (19-8-4) of the first 49 contests this season.  CBJ have scored first in a league-high 63.3 percent of their games this season.
• The Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in 14 of the last 23 games (17-of-56; 30.4 pct.) to rank third in the league in PP pct. since Dec. 8.  CBJ lead the league in PP percentage at home over that same stretch (39.3 pct; 11-of-28).
• Columbus ranks fourth in the league with six shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ rank second-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (52), eighth-T in second period goals (52) and sixth-T in third period goals scored (57) in 2024-25.  They are one of three teams to record 50-plus goals in all three periods this season (Tampa Bay, Washington).
• The Jackets play their 14th of 21 Saturday games of the season when they host the Kings.  The team has recorded points in three-straight Saturday contests (2-0-1) and six of the last seven on the day (3-1-3).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners collected three assists on Thursday and have combined for 9-37-46 in the last 17 games.  The team leads the league in goals by defensemen and ranks second in points and point percentage, third in goals percentage and fifth-T in assists with 30-91-121, 18.5 pct. of the club’s goals and 27.8 pct. of the team’s points in 47 contests.
• C Luca Del Bel Belluz has collected assists in two-straight games (1-2-3), including picking up his second multi-point effort of the campaign with 1-1-2 at Toronto on Wednesday.  He has registered 3-4-7 in nine career games since making his NHL debut in the 2023-24 season finale against Carolina on Apr. 16.
• D Dante Fabbro leads the NHL in blocked shots and ranks third in blocks/60 minutes (min. 5 GP) since Dec. 31 with 43 blocks and 9.54 blocks/60 in 12 games.
• C Adam Fantilli posted multiple points in the back-to-back games at Toronto (3-0-3, 1^st career hat trick) and Carolina (0-2-2, 1^st career multi-assist outing).  He has recorded points in nine of the last 11 contests (7-6-13) to lead the club in goals and points and rank eighth-T in the league in goals and 12^th-T in scoring since Jan. 1.  He has set single-season career highs in goals and points with 14-14-28 in 49 appearances in 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson stretched his points streak to three-straight games (2-2-4) with his seventh multi-point effort of the season at Carolina (1-1-2).  He has recorded points in four of the past five contests (3-3-6) and seven of the last 10 games (4-5-9).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 23 of his 35 games this season (14-16-30) and sits two goals shy of tying in single-season career high (16-24-40, 79 GP in 2022-23).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has recorded points in three-straight games (1-2-3) and has registered points in nine of the last 10 contests (3-7-10), 17 of the last 20 games (9-16-25) and 20 of the last 24 (9-19-28).  The forward ranks second in the league in plus/minus rating and ninth-T in points since Nov. 21 with 13-23-36 and +23 in 31 contests.  He also leads the NHL in plus/minus rating as well as leads the club in goals, multi-assist and multi-point efforts and ranks second in assists and points in 2024-25 with 19-33-52, +28, nine multi-assist and 14 multi-point efforts in 49 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24) and sits one goal shy from becoming the first player in franchise history with 20-plus goals in three-straight campaigns to start their career.
• G Elvis Merzlikins turned aside 28-of-29 shots faced at Toronto on Wednesday to improve to 8-2-1 in his last 11 starts since Dec. 19.  He also ranks third-T in the league in wins since Jan. 4 with a 5-1-0 record, 2.32 GAA and .913 SV% (146-of-160).
• RW Mathieu Olivier has already set single-season career highs in goals and points (5-10-15, 66 GP in 2022-23) and ranks third in the NHL in PIM and sixth in hits with 10-8-18, 90 PIM and 174 hits in 49 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Florida’s Sam Bennett and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals, 50 PIM and 100 hits in 2024-25.
• LW James van Riemsdyk has posted goals in two-straight games (2-1-3) after picking up his fifth multi-point effort of the campaign on Thursday (1-1-2).  He ranks third on the team in scoring in January with 6-5-11 and four multi-point outings in 11 contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov has recorded points in three-straight (1-2-3) and in 14 of the last 19 contests (11-10-21).  The forward has registered 17-15-32 with nine multi-point efforts and is +20 in his last 34 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.  Since that date, he ranks third-T in the NHL in plus/minus and fifth-T in goals.
• D Zach Werenski has collected assists in two-straight contests (0-2-2) and has recorded points in nine of the last 12 contests (4-10-14).  He has also picked up six multi-point efforts in the last 15 games (4-17-21).  The 27-year-old Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in points (tied), even strength goals and points and shots on goal and ranks second in goals, assists (tied) and power play goals (tied) with 15-38-53, 10-23-33 ES and five PPG and 185 shots on 26:46 of ice time in 49 contests this season.  He also leads NHL blueliners in goals, assists and points and is sixth-T among all skaters in scoring since Nov. 21 with 11-28-39 in 31 contests.  His 53 points are the third-most by a CBJ defenseman in a season in franchise history, trailing only the 57 points recorded by Seth Jones in 2017-18 (16-41-57 in 78 GP) and matched by Werenski in 2023-24 (11-46-57 in 70 GP).  He owns the club record for longest home points streak at 18 games (12-23-35) and is the sixth different defenseman in NHL history to post a run of at least that length and first since Brian Leetch in 1991-92 (Nov. 11, 1991-Feb. 21, 1992).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is nine points from 100 for his NHL career (46-45-91, 358 GP).
• D Jake Christiansen is seven games from 100 for his NHL career (2-12-14, 93 GP).
• C Adam Fantilli is two games from 100 for his NHL career (26-29-55, 98 GP).
• F Kent Johnson is 11 points from 100 for his NHL career (36-53-89 in 165 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is 14 games from 200 for his NHL career (63-56-119, 186 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is four assists from 200 for his NHL career (73-196-269, 663 GP).
• C Cole Sillinger is three points from 100 for his CBJ/NHL career (39-58-97, 265 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• F Boone Jenner (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7; (49 Games)
• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (46 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (28 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (8 Games)
• D Denton Mateychuk (illness); (3 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); (2 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 205

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS