By Joe Coopersmith

APRIL 8, 2025 II NATIONWIDE ARENA II VS. OTTAWA SENATORS 

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)

Senators to Watch

• D Jake Sanderson, who has points in four-straight (3-2-5) and five of the past six contests (4-2-6), leads club blueliners in goals, assists and points with 11-43-54 in 76 contests in 2024-25 and has totaled 1-4-5 in seven career outings against CBJ.
• C Tim Stutzle leads the Senators in assists and points with 21-51-72 in 77 games in 2024-25 and has notched 5-1-6 in 11 career outings against the Blue Jackets.

All-Time Series

• Columbus has gone 18-20-5 in 43 all-time meetings vs. Ottawa, including 11-7-3 at home.
• CBJ have recorded points in 12 of the last 18 games of the series dating back to Mar. 17, 2018 (9-6-3).
• Columbus has collected points in each of the last four games played at Nationwide Arena (2-0-2) and 10 of the past 12 home contests since Feb. 13, 2016 (8-2-2).
• The winning team has scored four or more goals in six of the past eight meetings overall since Jan. 3, 2023.
• CBJ have recorded a power play goal in the last four consecutive home contests (5-of-9; 55.6 pct), while the penalty kill has killed off 27-of-29 Senators attempts over the last 11 meetings at Nationwide Arena (93.1 pct.).
• The Blue Jackets have recorded three of the seven total shutouts in the all-time series with goaltender Joonas Korpisalo earning the most recent one for CBJ with 25 saves in a 1-0 win at Nationwide Arena on Nov. 25, 2019.

This Season (CBJ, 0-2-0)

• Mar. 29, 2025 – at OTT 3, CBJ 2
• Apr. 6, 2025 – at OTT 4, CBJ 0
• Apr. 8, 2025 – at Columbus (7 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Senators

• C Boone Jenner – 9-4-13 in 25 career GP, including goals in five of his last six games against the club since Apr. 2, 2023 (5-0-5) and seven points in his last nine overall (5-2-7) as well as goals in each of his past three home contests (3-0-3) and points in six of his last eight at Nationwide Arena (4-3-7).
• RW Kirill Marchenko – 2-3-5 in 8 career GP, including 1-1-2 in three career home appearances.
• G Elvis Merzlikins – 2-2-2, 2.34 GAA and .930 SV% in 9 career GP as well as a 1-1-2 record with a 1.93 GAA and .943 SV% in five career home meetings.
• C Sean Monahan – 6-12-18 in 30 career GP, including an assist in his most recent home outing against the club.
• LW James van Riemsdyk – 17-17-34 with 8 multi-point efforts in 45 career GP, including 3-3-6 in his past nine outings overall as well as 8-10-18 in 22 career home contests.
• D Zach Werenski – 4-14-18 in 18 career GP, including assists in eight of his last nine games overall (0-11-11) and points in 10 of his last 12 (2-12-14) as well as points in each of his last six contests at Nationwide Arena (2-6-8) with assists in the past five at home (0-6-6).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• CBJ and the Senators conclude a three-game over a stretch of nine days, including a home-and-home set on Tuesday after Ottawa earned a 4-0 victory at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.
• Three of the club’s six remaining contests are against teams currently in a playoff position, with Tuesday’s contest against the Senators and a home-and-home set vs. Washington (Apr. 12-13).
• The club’s 239 goals (not including SO goals) are the second-most through the first 76 games of a campaign in franchise history (241, 2021-22).
• The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.14 goals for per game, which is the second-highest average in a single season in franchise history (3.15, 2021-22), and ranks 11th in the NHL in 2024-25.
• The club is 22-10-5 at home in 2024-25 (49 points), posting the fourth-most wins and points in the first 37 home games of a campaign in franchise history (26-10-1, 53 pts in 2016-17).  Columbus is one point shy of hitting the 50-mark on home ice for the fifth time in club history (57, 2016-17; 55, 2017-18; 53, 2008-09; 50, 2005-06).
• CBJ rank second in the NHL in goals-for per game average (3.78), fourth-T in goals scored (140), eighth in power play pct. (25.8) and 11th in points pct. at home this season (.662).
• The Blue Jackets have had beyond capacity crowds in eight of the past 12 games played at Nationwide Arena since Jan. 25 (17,939 avg.) and have had 13 sellouts in 2024-25.  The club is on pace to average over 17,000 per home game at Nationwide Arena in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-04.
• The Jackets are tied for the NHL lead with two three-goal and rank second-T with eight third period comeback victories in 2024-25.
• Columbus has had 19 of its games decided after regulation (12 in OT), tied for sixth-most games in the NHL.  The club leads the league in wins in the shootout (6) and ranks second-T in shootout contests (7).
• Columbus’s 14 games with six or more goals are the most in the league this season (Washington, 13) and have set a new club record for a single season (11, 2018-19).
• The club’s 176 goals scored during 5-on-5 play are the second-most in the league in 2024-25, trailing only Washington (185).
• Columbus ranks fifth-T in the league with nine shorthanded goals in 2024-25.  The nine shorthanded tallies are tied for the fourth-most in a season in club history, trailing 2002-03 (12), 2005-06 (10) and 2016-17 (10).
• CBJ ranks 12th in the NHL in first period goals scored (69), fifth in second period goals (87) and 15th in third period goals scored (79) in 2024-25.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• Five Blue Jackets have reached the 20-goal plateau in 2024-25 (RW Kirill Marchenko – 31, F Adam Fantilli – 24, C Kent Johnson – 22, F Dmitri Voronkov – 20, and D Zach Werenski – 20), which is tied for the most in a season in franchise history (2018-19).
• CBJ have three 50-point scorers in 2024-25 with D Zach Werenski (74 in 75 GP), RW Kirill Marchenko (70 in 73 GP) and F Kent Johnson (50 in 62 GP), which is tied for the fourth-most in a season in franchise history and the most recorded since 2021-22 (4).   The Jackets had a franchise-high five 50-point scorers in the 2009-10 and 2016-17 campaigns.
• Columbus leads the league in goal percentage and rank second in goals, third in points percentage, fifth in points and ninth in assists with 46-137-183, 19.3 pct. of the club’s goals and 28.5 pct. of the team’s points in 76 contests.  The 46 goals are the second-most by CBJ blueliners in a single season, trailing only the 51 goals recorded in 2017-18.
• D Dante Fabbro has collected assists in four of his past six outings (2-5-7), including two multi-point efforts.  He has already set a single-season career high in goals and has reached the 20-point plateau (7-16-23, 62 GP) for the second time in his career (3-21-24, 66 GP in 2021-22).
• C Adam Fantilli has posted 3-2-5 in the last seven contests.  He leads the club in goals and ranks second in points and third in assists since Jan. 1 with 17-15-32 in 38 contests.  The 20-year-old has already set single-season career highs with 24-23-47 in 76 appearances in 2024-25.
• C Boone Jenner had his points streak snapped at six games (6-3-9) on Saturday.  It was tied for his longest career points streak (3x, MR: Jan. 8-21, 2022).  He has totaled 6-12-18 in 20 contests since making his season debut on Feb. 22 vs. Chicago and is two goals shy (198) from becoming the third player with 200 career goals as a Blue Jacket (Rick Nash-289, Cam Atkinson-213). He leads the NHL in assists per 60 minutes (2.19) and points per 60 minutes (3.07) at 5v5 play in 2024-25 (min. 20 GP; 4-10-14 in 20 GP).
• F Kent Johnson has recorded 6-9-15 in the past 21 games and 12-17-29 in the past 37 contests. The 22-year-old has set a single-season career high in goals, assists and points with 22-28-50 in 62 appearances in 2024-25.
• RW Kirill Marchenko has tallied 6-2-8 in the past seven contests as well as 21-25-46 in the last 47.  The forward leads the club in goals and plus/minus rating and ranks second in assists, points, multi-assist and multi-point efforts in 2024-25 with 31-39-70, +24, nine multi-assist and 16 multi-point outings in 73 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs in goals, assists and points (23-19-42, 2023-24) and is the first Jacket to record 30-goals in a campaign since Cam Atkinson in 2018-19 (41).
• C Sean Monahan has collected points in four of his first seven contests (3-5-8) since returning from a wrist injury on Mar. 24 at the NY Islanders.  He has registered 8-16-24 with seven multi-point efforts in his past 16 games played dating back to Dec. 19.  He ranks second the NHL in assists per 60 minutes and points per 60 minutes at 5v5 play in 2024-25 (min. 20 GP) (2.08/2.99, 10-23-33 in 48 GP) and is one point shy of his second-straight – and  seventh of his career – 50-point campaign (17-32-49 in 47 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier has recorded 7-4-11 in the past 19 contests.  He has already set single-season career highs and ranks second in the NHL in penalty minutes and hits and set a single-season franchise record in hits with 17-12-29, 134 PIM and 290 hits in 76 games.  He is also one of two NHL players (Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk) with 10-plus goals and 90 penalty minutes in 2024-25.
• D Zach Werenski has collected 0-5-5 in the past six contests and 2-10-12 in the past 17 games.  The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in TOI/GP as well as leads league blueliners in shots on goal and ranks second in goals (tied), points, power play goals (tied) and even strength points as well as fourth in assists and even strength goals with 20-54-74, 14-34-48 at even strength, five PPG, 13 multi-assist games, 20 multi-point efforts and 282 shots on 26:59 of ice time in 75 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 and has registered top-10 Blue Jackets single season campaigns in multi-point games (3rd, tied), multi-assists games (3rd, tied), assists (4th), points (5th, tied) and shots on goal (6th).

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• LW Zach Aston-Reese is four points from 100 for his NHL career (47-49-96, 385 GP).
• D Erik Gudbranson is one game from 800 for his NHL career (34-100-134, 799 GP).
• F Boone Jenner is two goals from 200 for his NHL career (198-184-382, 735 GP).
• G Elvis Merzlikins is seven wins from 100 for his NHL career (93-100-35, 243 GP).
• RW Mathieu Olivier is four games from 200 for his CBJ career (27-29-56, 196 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• RW Kevin Labanc (shoulder); is on Injured Reserve on Feb. 21 (20 Games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 309

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS