By Joe Smithfield

MARCH 9, 2025 II MADISON SQUARE GARDEN II AT NEW YORK RANGERS

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)

NEW BLUE JACKET AQUISITIONS ARE OLD, OLD FIRENDS

It’s amazing what the NHL Trade Deadline has in store every year.

The two 27-year-old forwards have been friends for most of their lives, starting when they played against one another as kids – Fischer from suburban Chicago, Kunin from outside St. Louis. Their friendship continued when they were teammates for two years at the U.S. National Team Development program from 2013-20-15.

Rangers to Watch

• C J.T. Miller ranks second on New York in points and third in assists with 16-34-50 in 53 appearances in 2024-25 and has totaled 3-18-21 in 28 career appearances against Columbus.
• LW Artemi Panarin, who has points in four-straight games (4-3-7), leads his team in goals and points and ranks second in assists with 27-39-66 in 61 outings.  The forward has also notched 13-14-27 in 20 career outings against his former club.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 23-23-7 in 53 all-time meetings vs. New York, including 10-8-6 on the road.
• CBJ have recorded points in nine of their last 13 games at Madison Square Garden since Jan. 31, 2017 (7-4-2).
• Each of the first two meetings of the season series have been decided by a single goal.  Only one of the previous 11 in the series were decided by a single goal.
• The winning team had recorded four or more goals (including SO goals) in seven of the past eight games and 11 of the last 13 games of the series dating back to Oct. 29, 2021.
• Each team was credited with a shutout in the game on Jan. 18 (Shesterkin-27 saves/Tarasov-26 saves) with  Tarasov registering the fourth shutout in the all-time series for the Blue Jackets.
• The Blue Jackets have recorded the two most recent hat tricks (Artemi Panarin in 5-3 win at NYR on Mar. 20, 2018 and Boone Jenner in 5-3 win at CBJ on Oct. 14, 2023) and penalty shot attempt (Brandon Saad, unsuccessful in 5-2 win at NYR on Feb. 26, 2017).

This Season (CBJ, 0-1-1)

• Jan. 18, 2025 – at NYR 1 CBJ 0 (SO)
• Feb. 8, 2025 – NYR 4, at CBJ 3
• Mar. 9, 2025 – at New York (6 pm ET)
• Mar. 15, 2025 – at Columbus (7pm ET)

Player Notables vs. Rangers

• LW Zach Aston-Reese – 2-4-6 in 12 career GP, including an assist in the most recent meeting on Feb. 8.
• C Justin Danforth – 3-0-3 in 5 career GP, including a goal in the last contest on Feb. 8.
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-2-4 in 8 career GP, registering 1-2-3 in his past five games against the club.
• D Damon Severson – 4-15-19 in 43 career GP, including assists in three of the past four outings overall.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 15-11-26 in 56 career GP, including points in four of his past six meetings against the club (2-3-5).
• D Zach Werenski – 3-13-16 in 24 career GP, including points in five of his last eight outings against the team (1-6-7) as well as two of his last four at Madison Square Garden (1-1-2).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES*

*Rankings entering Saturday’s games

• Columbus fell for the second-straight game and shut out for the fourth time this season with a 3-0 loss at Florida on Thursday.
• Sunday’s contest at the NY Rangers kicks off a stretch of six-of-eight games against Metropolitan Division opponents through Mar. 24 (NYR-2, NJD-2, PIT, NYI).
• CBJ had won four consecutive games out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break before dropping the past two outings.  It was the second time this season the club won four-straight contests after posting a six-game win streak from Jan. 4-16.
• Columbus scored at least five goals (21 total) in four consecutive games from Feb. 22-Mar. 1, setting a new franchise record for longest stretch with five or more goals (15 goals in 3 GP from Feb. 25-Mar. 1, 2001).
• The team has collected points in 21 of the last 30 contests overall since Dec. 19 (18-9-3, 39 points).  The Jackets rank fifth-T in the NHL in points percentage (.650), sixth-T in points, seventh in wins (tied) and goals-for per game (3.33) over that stretch.
• CBJ have improved their numbers over the past 11 weeks of the season compared to the first 9.5 (Oct. 16-Dec. 18), including goals-for average (3.22 to 3.33), goals-against average (3.63 to 2.93), power play pct. (18.2 to 24.6) and penalty kill pct. (72.5 to 77.8).  The club sat in eighth place in the division and Wild Card race at 12-15-5 (29 points) on Dec. 18.
• The Jackets, who play the third of four-straight road contests from Mar. 4-11 on Sunday, have recorded points in seven of 13 road contests in 2025 (6-6-1).
• Columbus boasts the best goals-for per game average (4.07) and total goals (122) in the league at home, while also ranking second in power play pct. (29.4) and seventh in points pct. (.733) this season.
• The club is 20-6-4 at home in 2024-25 (44 points), posting the most points and second-most wins (21, 2016-17) in the first 30 home games of a campaign in franchise history.
• CBJ have earned points in 23 of the past 27 home contests (19-4-4) to lead the NHL in goals-for at home (4.15) and rank second in power play pct. (31.7) and third in points pct. (.778)  since Oct. 22.
• The Jackets have allowed three goals or less in 17 of the past 22 contests and rank 11th in the NHL in goals-against per game since Jan. 7 (2.68, 59 goals total).
• The club’s 203 goals (not including SO goals) are the most through the first 62 games of a campaign, surpassing the 201 scored in 2021-22.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided after regulation (11 in OT), two shy of the league leaders (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Utah).
• CBJ have scored in all three periods in regulation 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’ 11 games with six or more goals are tied with Florida and Washington for the second-most in the league this season (Winnipeg, 12) and tied for the most in a single season in Blue Jackets history after setting the record in 2018-19.
• The club’s 144 goals scored during 5-on-5 play are the second-most in the league in 2024-25 (148, Washington).
• The team has scored first in 37 (23-9-5) of the first 62 contests this season.  CBJ rank second in the league in percentage of games scoring first (59.7 pct.), trailing only Minnesota (60.3 pct.).
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the league with eight shorthanded goals in 2024-25.
• CBJ ranks fifth-T in the NHL in first period goals scored (62), sixth-T in second period goals (69) and 11th-T in third period goals scored (68) in 2024-25.
• The Jackets play their sixth (2-3-0) of eight Sunday games when they visit the Rangers.  All eight of the Sunday contests are played away from Nationwide Arena.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES*

*Rankings entering Saturday’s games

• CBJ lead the league in goals and goal percentage and ranks third-T in points and fourth in points percentage assists with 42-112-154, 20.7 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.2 pct. of the team’s points in 62 contests.
• C Adam Fantilli had his six-game points streak (3-4-7) snapped at Florida on Thursday.  He has recorded points in 11 of the past 15 contests (7-8-15).  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 18 of 24 contests since Jan. 1 (11-12-23, 19:40).  He has already set single-season career highs with 18-20-38 in 62 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner registered assists in his first four games (0-7-7) since making his season debut on Feb. 22 to become the second player in franchise history with at least one assist in each of  his first four games of a campaign (Nick Foligno; 6 GP from Oct. 9-23, 2014).
• F Kent Johnson had his four-game assists streak (1-4-5) and six-game points streak (4-4-8) snapped on Thursday.  He has also registered points in 14 of the past 16 contests (8-9-17), 15 of the past 18 contests (9-10-19) and 18 of the last 23 games (10-12-22).  The 22-year-old has recorded points in 34 of his 48 games this season (20-23-43) and has set a single-season career high in goals and points.  He ranks third in the NHL in goals/60 minutes (min. 20 GP; 1.51), trailing only Tage Thompson (1.86) and Alex Ovechkin (1.54).
• RW Kirill Marchenko has recorded points in nine of his last 13 games (6-5-11), 15 of his past 20 contests (8-10-18), 23 of the last 30 games (14-19-33) and 26 of the past 34 (14-22-36).  The forward, who ranks fourth-T in the NHL in plus/minus rating, leads the club in goals and ranks second in assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 24-36-60, +31, nine multi-assist and 15 multi-point outings in 59 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, who signed a six-year contract extension with the club on Wednesday, has registered points in three of the past five contests (2-1-3).  He has already set single-season career highs in goals, points and ranks second in the NHL in hits and penalty minutes with 12-9-21, 113 PIM and 232 hits in 61 games.  He is one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 80 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• D Ivan Provorov has totaled 4-3-7 with two multi-point efforts in the past 10 contests.
• LW James van Riemsdyk has recorded points in three of the past five contests (3-1-4) and 10 of the past 15 contests (6-6-12).  He has also registered 10-10-20 and five multi-point outings in the last 24 contests, while ranking third in the NHL in scoring/60 minutes during 5v5 play since Jan. 1 (min. 10 GP, 3.61; 8-9-17).
• F Dmitri Voronkov became the third Blue Jacket to reach the 20-goal plateau this season with his team-leading eighth power play goal on Mar. 1 vs. Detroit.  He has registered 19-20-39 with 11 multi-point efforts and is +21 in his last 47 contests since Nov. 15 after starting the campaign with 1-0-1 in the first six.
• D Zach Werenski has posted multiple points in two of the last three games (2-2-4) and three of his past six contests (3-4-7).  He has notched points in 17 of his last 24 contests overall (9-18-27).
• 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 20-46-66, 14-28-42 at even strength, five PPG and 218 shots on 26:58 of ice time in 61 contests this season.  He has already set single-season franchise records for goals (tied; Werenski, 20 in 2019-20), assists (Werenski, 46 in 2023-24) and points (Jones, 57 in 2017-18; Werenski, 57 in 2023-24) by a defenseman.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is six points from 100 for his NHL career (46-48-94, 371 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-179-371, 721 GP).
• RW Kirill Marchenko is four games from 200 for his NHL career (68-59-127, 196 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is 10 wins from 100 for his NHL career (90-95-34, 233 GP).
• D Zach Werenski (258 in 546 GP) is one assist 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; (59 Games)
• C Sean Monahan (upper body); is on Injured Reserve retroactive to Jan. 7 (21 Games)
• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (6 Games)
• C Cole Sillinger (upper body); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 27 (3 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 266

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS