By Joe Coopersmith

FEB. 27, 2025 II LITTLE CAESARS ARENA II AT DETROIT RED WINGS

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV*:  FanDuel Sports Network and simulcast in various markets    

Steve Mears (play-by-play), Jody Shelley (analyst), Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre (analyst), Brian Giesenschlag (Host)

Radio:  97.1 The Fan

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

* Game will be simulcast on the following stations (markets):  FOX 28 (Columbus), WKRC 12.2 CW (Cincinnati), WUAB 43.1 CW (Cleveland), WKEF 22.3 MyTV (Dayton), WQCW 30.1 CW (Charleston, WV/Huntington, WV/Portsmouth, OH), WKYT 27.2 CW (Lexington, KY), WAVE 3.2 Bounce (Louisville, KY). 

Red Wings to Watch

• RW Alex DeBrincat, who has posted 5-6-11 over a seven-game points streak, leads the Red Wings in goals and ranks third in points with 26-24-50 in 58 contests in 2024-25 and has totaled 11-14-25 in 21 career games against the Blue Jackets.
• LW Lucas Raymond leads Detroit in assists and points and ranks third in goals with 22-41-63 in 58 appearances in 2024-25 and has totaled 7-6-13 in 10 career contests against CBJ.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 46-54-15 in 115 all-time games against Detroit, including 20-28-7 on the road.
• Detroit has won six of the last seven meetings in the series since Nov. 19, 2022 (CBJ; 1-5-1).
• Prior to the most recent stretch, the Blue Jackets earned points in 30 of 38 contests from Mar. 28, 2012-Apr. 9, 2022 (27-8-3).
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in nine of the past 12 seasons.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 12 consecutive games since May 7, 2021 and 14 of the last 16 in the overall series dating back to Mar. 2, 2021.
• Four of the last five games in the series have been decided by a single goal including each of the last three.  The past four games played at Little Caesars Arena have all been decided by a single goal with two decided in overtime.
• The teams have combined for 55 shots or less in four of the past five contests in the all-time series (51 on Jan. 2, 2025).
• Columbus owns eight shutouts in the all-time series with Elvis Merzlikins recording the two most recent ones for the club (16 saves in 2-0 W at CBJ on Feb. 7, 2020 and 41 saves in 1-0 W at CBJ on Apr. 27, 2021).

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-0)

• Jan. 2, 2025 – DET 5, at CBJ 4
• Feb. 27, 2025 – at Detroit (7 pm ET)
• Mar. 1, 2025 – at Columbus (6 pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Red Wings

• C Adam Fantilli – 1-1-2 in 3 career GP, recording his points in his past two games, including a goal in his lone game at Detroit on Nov. 11, 2023.
• F Kent Johnson – 1-1-2 in 5 career GP, including an assist in his lone career game at Little Caesars Arena on Jan. 14, 2023.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 1-1-2 in 5 career GP, recording his points in his past two outings at Detroit, including a goal in the most recent game on Mar. 19, 2024.
• D Damon Severson – 1-10-11 in 26 career GP, including assists in his last three contests at Detroit (0-3-3) and five of his past six at Little Caesars Arena (0-5-5).
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 14-9-23 in 35 career GP, including multiple points in his past two games against the club (3-2-5) after notching 2-1-3 in the first contest of the 2024-25 season series.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-14-18 with 5 multi-point efforts in 23 career GP, including assists in his past four outings (2-8-10, 3 3-point efforts) and points in his past five (3-8-11) as well as assists in his past three at Little Caesars Arena (1-6-7, 2 3-point efforts).

COUNTDOWN TO STADIUM SERIES

• CBJ are two days away from playing in the first outdoor game in franchise history and the 43^rd in NHL regular season history.  The club hosts the Red Wings at historic Ohio Stadium, home of the 2024 College Football Playoff National Champions, THE Ohio State Buckeyes, on Saturday, Mar. 1 (6pm).
• Six current Blue Jackets have taken part in an outdoor game; LW Zach Aston-Reese, D Dante Fabbro, D Jack Johnson, C Sean Monahan, D Ivan Provorov and LW James van Riemsdyk, while HC Dean Evason has coached in two outdoor games (1 as HC, 1 as AC).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ have won their first two games following the 4 Nations Face-Off break, 5-1 over Chicago on Feb. 22 and 6-4 over Dallas on Feb. 25.
• The team has collected points in 19 of the last 26 contests overall since Dec. 19 (16-7-3, 35 points).  The Jackets rank fourth in the NHL in points percentage (.673), fifth-T in goals-for per game (3.38) and seventh in power play pct. (27.1) over that stretch.
• The Blue Jackets have recorded points in six of their last 10 road contests since the calendar switched to 2025 (5-4-1).
• CBJ have improved their numbers over the past nine weeks of the season compared to the first 9.5 (Oct. 16-Dec. 18), including goals-against average (3.63 to 2.85), power play pct. (18.2 to 27.1) and penalty kill pct. (72.5 to 81.4).  The club sat in eighth place in the division and Wild Card race at 12-15-5 (29 points) on Dec. 18.
• Columbus boasts the best goals-for per game average (4.03) and total goals (117) in the league at home, while also ranking sixth in power play pct. (28.4) and points pct. this season (tied, .724).
• The club is 19-6-4 at home in 2024-25 (42 points), posting the most points and second-most wins in the first 29 home games of a campaign in franchise history.
• The Jackets have allowed three goals or less in 14 of the past 18 contests and rank fifth-T in the NHL in goals-against per game since Jan. 7 (2.50, 45 goals total).
• The club’s 191 goals (not including SO goals) are the most through the first 58 games of a campaign.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided after regulation (11 in OT) to rank second-T in the NHL in games played after regulation (Utah, 17).
• CBJ have scored in all three periods in each of the past two contests and have accomplished the feat 22 times this season, including 17 occasions at home.  Last season, the club scored in all three periods 20 times (10 times at home).
• Columbus scored six goals in the win over Dallas on Tuesday and is now tied with Florida, Washington and Winnipeg for the most instances of six or more goals in a game in 2024-25 (11).  It’s also tied for the most in a single season in Blue Jackets history after setting the record in 2018-19.
• CBJ have scored five of their six goals during 5-on-5 action on Tuesday.  The club’s 137 goals scored during 5-on-5 play, trail only Washington (139) for the league lead.
• The club has scored first in 36 (22-9-5) of the first 58 contests this season.  CBJ have scored first in 62.1 percent of their games this season, trailing only Buffalo (62.5 pct.) for the NHL lead.
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the league with seven shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks third-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (61), 11th in second period goals (tied, 61) and third period goals scored (65) in 2024-25.  The club is one of four teams with 60-plus goals in all three periods (Florida, Tampa Bay and Washington).
• The Jackets play their 13th (6-4-2) of 19 Thursday games of the season.  The club will play on four consecutive Thursdays and seven of the final Thursdays to end the campaign.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners combined for 3-4-7 in the wins over Chicago and Dallas.  The team leads the league lead in goals and goal percentage and ranks second in points, third in points percentage as well as seventh in assists with 39-107-146, 20.4 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.4 pct. of the team’s points in 58 contests.
• D Dante Fabbro ranks second-T in the NHL in blocked shots and third in blocks/60 minutes (min. 10 GP) since Dec. 31 with 56 blocks and 8.54 blocks/60 in 18 games.
• C Adam Fantilli stretched his points streak to three-straight (2-2-4) with his sixth multi-point effort of the campaign with 1-1-2 on Tuesday vs. Dallas.  He has recorded points in eight of the past 11 contests (6-6-12).  The 20-year-old leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists (tied) and points as well as leads CBJ forwards in TOI and has collected points in 15 of 20 contests since Jan. 1 (10-10-20, 19:45).  He has set single-season career highs with 17-18-35 in 58 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner has registered assists in each of his two games since making his season debut on Feb. 22.  He is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played and ranks third in goals and points with 192-174-366 in 717 career games.  He posted three-straight 20-goal seasons heading into 2024-25.
• F Kent Johnson stretched his points streak to three consecutive (3-1-4) with an assist on Tuesday and has registered points in 11 of the past 12 contests (7-6-13), 12 of the past 14 contests (8-7-15) and 15 of the last 19 games (9-9-18).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 31 of his 44 games this season (19-20-39) and has set a single-season career high in goals (16-24-40, 79 GP in 2022-23).  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.54), trailing only Tage Thompson (1.88) and Alex Ovechkin (1.62).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has posted assists in both games (2-2-4) since returning from a broken jaw suffered on Feb. 2 at Dallas.  He notched his fifth three-point outing and 15^th multi-point effort with 2-1-3 in the win over Dallas on Tuesday.  He has recorded points in eight of his last nine games (5-5-10), 14 of his past 16 contests (7-10-17), 22 of the last 26 games (13-19-32) and 25 of the past 30 (13-22-35).  The forward ranks second in the NHL in plus/minus rating as well as leads the club in goals and multi-assist efforts (tied) and multi-point efforts (tied) and ranks second in assists and points in 2024-25 with 23-36-59, +33, nine multi-assist and 15 multi-point efforts in 55 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in goals (tied), assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24) and is the first player in franchise history with 20-plus goals in three-straight campaigns to start their career.
• RW Mathieu Olivier, who scored a goal on Tuesday, has already set single-season career highs in goals, points and hits (5-10-15, 66 GP in 2022-23) and ranks second in the NHL in hits and third in PIM with 11-8-19, 99 PIM and 220 hits in 58 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals, 70 PIM and 125 hits in 2024-25.
• C Cole Sillinger collected his fourth multi-assist and fifth multi-point outing with two assists against Chicago on Saturday.  He has registered points in five of the past eight contests (2-4-6).  The 21-year-old has set a new single-season career high in assists with 9-20-29 in 53 games and sits three points shy of tying his career high set in 2023-24 (13-19-32, 77 GP).
• LW James van Riemsdyk notched the game-winning goal on Tuesday and has picked up points in eight of the past 11 contests (4-5-9).  He has also registered 8-9-17 and four multi-point outings in 20 contests.
• F Dmitri Voronkov collected his fourth multi-assist and 11^th multi-point effort with two assists on Tuesday.  He has registered 18-20-38 with 11 multi-point efforts and is +23 in his last 43 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.
• D Zach Werenski has registered points in 15 of his last 20 contests overall (7-16-23).  He had his franchise record home points streak snapped at 22-straight games (14-27-41) on Tuesday.  It was tied with Phil Housley (22 GP in 1991-92) for the third-longest point streak by a blueliner in NHL history.  The list is topped by Bobby Orr (25 GP in 1974-75) and Paul Coffey (23 GP in 1985-86).  Werenski has posted 14-32-46 in 29 home games this season, tied with Nathan MacKinnon (13-33-46 in 28 GP) for the most in the NHL in 2024-25 and with Johnny Gaudreau (17-29-46 in 41 GP in 2022-23) for the most in a single season in franchise history.
• Werenski, a native of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in even strength goals, even strength points and shots on goal and ranks second in goals, assists and points and power play goals (tied) with 18-44-62, 13-27-40 at even strength, five PPG and 209 shots on 26:50 of ice time in 57 contests this season.  He has set a new franchise for points by a defenseman in a single season, surpassing the record set 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 also owns the CBJ record for goals by a blueliner (20 in 2019-20) and assists (46 in 2023-24).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is seven points from 100 for his NHL career (46-47-93, 367 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-174-366, 717 GP).
• F Kent Johnson is two points from 100 for his NHL career (41-57-98 in 174 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is eight games from 200 for his NHL career (67-59-126, 192 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is one assist from 200 for his NHL career (77-199-276, 672 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (256 in 543 GP) is three assists from surpassing Rick Nash (258 in 675 GP) for the most in franchise history.

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16; (55 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (37 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (17 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (2 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 249

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS