By Joe Coopersmith

MAR. 1, 2025 II OHIO STADIUM II VS. DETROIT RED WINGS

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV:  ESPN, ESPN+, DISNEY+   

Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Ray Ferraro (analyst), Emily Kaplan (reporter), Kevin Weekes (reporter), Marty Smith (reporter)

Radio:  97.1 The Fan

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

Red Wings to Watch

• RW Alex DeBrincat, who has posted 6-6-12 over an eight-game points streak, leads the Red Wings in goals and ranks third in points with 27-24-51 in 59 contests in 2024-25 and has totaled 12-14-26 in 22 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 59 appearances in 2024-25 and has totaled 7-6-13 in 11 career contests against CBJ.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 47-54-15 in 116 all-time games against Detroit, including 26-24-8 at home.
• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in 10 of the past 13 contests, including the last four-straight.
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in 13 consecutive games since May 7, 2021 and 15 of the last 17 in the overall series dating back to Mar. 2, 2021.
• Four of the last six games in the series have been decided by a single goal.
• The teams have combined for 55 shots or less in four of the past six contests in the all-time series.
• 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, 1-1-0)

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

Player Notables vs. Red Wings

• C Adam Fantilli – 1-2-3 in 4 career GP, recording his points in each of his past three games after collecting an assist on Thursday.
• F Kent Johnson – 2-2-4 in 6 career GP after notching ninth multi-point outing of the season at Detroit on Thursday (1-1-2).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-1-3 in 6 career GP, recording a goal at Detroit on Thursday.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 16-9-25 in 36 career GP, including multiple points in his past three games against the club (5-2-7) after notching 2-1-3 on Jan. 2 and 2-0-2 on Feb. 27.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-14-18 with 5 multi-point efforts in 24 career GP, including assists in four of his past five outings (2-8-10, 3 3-point efforts) and points in his five of his last six (3-8-11) as well as points in his past five home contests against the team (3-6-9, 3 multi-point efforts).

2025 NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION STADIUM SERIES

• The Blue Jackets play in their 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 (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).
• View Stadium Series Information Guide.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ have won their first three games following the 4 Nations Face-Off break; 5-1 over Chicago on Feb. 22, 6-4 over Dallas on Feb. 25 and 5-2 at Detroit on Feb. 27.  It’s the second time in franchise history the club has scored five or more goals in three-straight contests (Feb. 25-Mar. 1, 2001; 15 total goals).
• The team has collected points in 20 of the last 27 contests overall since Dec. 19 (17-7-3, 37 points).  The Jackets rank second in the NHL in goals-for per game (3.44), fourth in points percentage (.685) and ninth in power play pct. (26.0) over that stretch.
• 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-for average (3.22 to 3.44), goals-against average (3.63 to 2.81), power play pct. (18.2 to 26.0) and penalty kill pct. (72.5 to 80.7).  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 seventh in points pct. (.724) this season.
• 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.
• Columbus has recorded points in 14 of the past 16 home contests (11-2-3) as well as 19 of the last 22 played at home (15-3-4).
• CBJ have earned points in 22 of the past 26 home contests (18-4-4) to lead the NHL in goals-for at home (4.12) and rank third in points pct. (.769) and fourth in power play pct. (30.5) since Oct. 22.
• The Jackets have allowed three goals or less in 15 of the past 19 contests and rank seventh in the NHL in goals-against per game since Jan. 7 (2.47, 47 goals total).
• The club’s 196 goals (not including SO goals) are the most through the first 59 games of a campaign, surpassing the 192 scored in 2016-17.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided after regulation (11 in OT), one shy of the league leaders (PIT, PHI, UTA, VAN).
• CBJ have scored in all three periods in two of the past three 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 four of their five goals during 5-on-5 action on Thursday.  The club’s 141 goals scored during 5-on-5 play is tied with Washington for the most in the NHL.
• The club has scored first in 36 (22-9-5) of the first 59 contests this season.  CBJ have scored first in 61.0 percent of their games this season, trailing only Buffalo (61.4 pct.) for the NHL lead.
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the league with seven shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks fourth-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (61), eighth in second period goals (65) and 10th-T in third period goals scored (66) 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 17^th (6-6-4) of 21 Saturday games of the season and have recorded points in eight of the past 10 dating back to Nov. 23 (5-2-3).

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• CBJ blueliners combined for 3-6-9 in the last three wins.  The team leads the league lead in goals and ranks second in points and goal percentage, fourth in points percentage as well as fifth-T in assists with 39-109-148, 19.9 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.0 pct. of the team’s points in 59 contests.
• C Adam Fantilli stretched his points streak to four-straight (2-3-5) after collecting an assist on Thursday.  He has recorded points in nine of the past 12 contests (6-7-13).  The 20-year-old leads the club in goals (tied) and ranks second in assists and points as well as leads CBJ forwards in TOI and has collected points in 16 of 21 contests since Jan. 1 (10-11-21, 19:48).  He has set single-season career highs with 17-19-36 in 59 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner has registered assists in each of his three games since making his season debut on Feb. 22, including notching his second career three-assist outing on Thursday at Detroit.  He is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played and ranks third in goals and points with 192-177-369 in 718 career games.
• F Kent Johnson stretched his points streak to four consecutive (4-2-6) with 1-1-2 on Thursday and has registered points in 12 of the past 13 contests (8-7-15), 13 of the past 15 contests (9-8-17) and 16 of the last 20 games (10-10-20).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 32 of his 45 games this season (20-21-41) and has set a single-season career high in goals and points.  He ranks second in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.61), trailing only Tage Thompson (1.84).
• RW Kirill Marchenko, who notched a goal at Detroit on Thursday, has posted points in all three games (3-2-5) since returning from a broken jaw suffered on Feb. 2 at Dallas.  He has recorded points in nine of his last 10 games (6-5-11), 15 of his past 17 contests (8-10-18), 23 of the last 27 games (14-19-33) and 26 of the past 31 (14-22-36).  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 24-36-60, +34, nine multi-assist and 15 multi-point efforts in 56 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in goals, 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 has registered points in two-straight contests (1-2-2).  He 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 11-9-20, 99 PIM and 223 hits in 59 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals, 70 PIM and 150 hits in 2024-25.
• C Cole Sillinger, who left Thursday’s contest with an upper body injury, has registered 2-4-6 in the past nine contests.  The 21-year-old has set a new single-season career high in assists with 9-20-29 in 54 games and sits three points shy of tying his career high set in 2023-24 (13-19-32, 77 GP).
• LW James van Riemsdyk has recorded goals in consecutive outings (3-0-3), including his third multi-goal effort with 2-0-2 at Detroit.  He has picked up points in nine of the past 12 contests (6-5-11) and has also registered 10-9-19 and five multi-point outings in the last 21 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 44 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 21 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 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 (tied), points and power play goals (tied) with 18-44-62, 13-27-40 at even strength, five PPG and 210 shots on 26:50 of ice time in 58 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, 368 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-177-369, 718 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is seven games from 200 for his NHL career (68-59-127, 193 GP).
• D Ivan Provorov is one assist from 200 for his NHL career (77-199-276, 673 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (256 in 544 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; (56 Games)
• C Yegor Chinakhov (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 (38 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (18 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 253

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS