COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Boqvist (shoulder strain); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 5; Approx. 4 Weeks (12 games)
Jenner (fractured jaw); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 8; Approx. 6 Weeks (10 games)
Laine (clavicle fracture); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 14; Approx. 6 Weeks (8 games)
Blankenburg (upper body) Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 19; Day-to-Day (6 games)
Kuraly (abdominal injury); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 23; Approx. 2-4 Weeks (4 games)
Werenski (ankle); Placed on IR on Dec. 29; Approx. 4-to-6 Weeks (3 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 144
AGAINST THE FLYERS
2023-24 Series: 0-2-0 (0-1-0 at PHI)
2022-23 Series: 2-1-1 (0-1-1 at PHI)
All-Time Series: 25-18-3-3 (10-13-1-1 at PHI)
Last 10 (Overall | Road): 4-4-2 | 5-4-1
All-Time GF/GA: 138/148
All-Time SF/SA: 1,417/1,558
All-Time PP: 27-of-149
All-Time PK: 147-of-172
THE LAST GAME: NOV. 19, 2023 – CBJ 2 at PHI 5
CBJ Goal Scorers: Texier (4), Jenner (8)
PHI Goal Scorers: Farabee (7), PP – Brink (4), SH – Poehling (2), Konecny (11), EN – York (2)
Goalies: CBJ – Martin (22/26; 58:54); PHI – Ersson (20/22; 60:00)
CBJ PP: 0/5; PK: 3/4 | Shots: CBJ: 22 / PHI: 27
Noteworthy: CBJ fell to 0-2-0 in the season series vs. PHI… CBJ and PHI were tied 1-1 after the 1st… Texier scored, giving him 3-2-5 in his past 6 games… Jenner (goal) has points in 2-straight outings (1-1-2)… Provorov tallied an assist to extend his points streak to 3 consecutive outings (1-2-3)… Kuraly recorded an assist in his 2nd-straight contest (0-2-2).
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. PHI)
CBJ are 23-12-3 vs. PHI since the start of the 2013-14 season… CBJ have recorded points in 5 of the last 9 games of the series (4-4- 1)… CBJ have recorded points in 3 of the last 5 games (2-2-1) and 6 of the past 10 at Wells Fargo Center (5-4-1)… CBJ have killed off 22-of-25 Flyers’ power play attempts in the past 9 games (88.0 pct.)… Winning team has recorded 4+ goals in 8-straight games and 16 of the last 18 in the series since 3/15/18 and 9 of the past 10 played at PHI has seen the winner score 4+ goals… The teams have combined for 70-plus shots in 4 of the past 5 meetings of the series… Most goals scored at PHI: 5 – 3x (MR: 3/15/18)… Most goals allowed at PHI: 9 (11/5/11).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. PHI)
Bean skated in his 100th career NHL game on 4/5/22 at PHI… Fantilli notched his 1st career NHL point (assist) in his debut on 10/12/23 vs. PHI… Severson made his NHL debut on 10/9/14 at PHI and skated in his 200th career game on 4/1/17 at PHI.
GOALS ON GOALS
The club recorded 20 goals over four games from Dec. 14-21 – including a season-high nine goals on Dec. 19 at Buffalo – to tie for the third-most over a four-game stretch (fourth time) and trail only 24 goals (Feb. 17-24, 2022) and 21 goals (Mar. 27-Apr. 3, 2018). The Blue Jackets scored nine goals on Dec. 19 at Buffalo – the most scored in a road game in franchise history and the second-most scored overall (10-0 on Nov. 5, 2016 vs. Montreal). The team has scored 69 goals over the last 20 games to rank eighth in the NHL in goals-per-game since Nov. 22 (3.45). Columbus also ranks second in the NHL with 89 goals scored at 5-on-5 play this season, trailing only Vancouver (95). Tuesday’s final was just the second time over the last 13 games that the Blue Jackets were held to less than two goals.
BLOCK IT LIKE IT’S HOT
Columbus blocked 15 shots on Tuesday vs. Boston and has been credited with 523 blocked shots over the past 28 games dating back to Nov. 6. The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 38 blocked shots on Dec. 14 at Toronto. The team is tied for the NHL lead in total blocked shots (732) and ranks third in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.53). Defenseman Erik Gudbranson leads the team and ranks 11th-T in the league in blocked shots in 2023-24 with 91.
FROM THE BLUE LINE
CBJ blueliners have registered 3-21-24 in the last nine games and have combined for 8-45-53 in the past 23 contests. They have collected 13-77-90 in 39 games this season to rank fourth among NHL defensive units in assists and sixth in points, as well as lead the league in assists percentage (38.7 pct.) and rank fifth in points percentage (28.2 pct.) recorded by its defense. Defenseman Ivan Provorov recorded an assist on Tuesday and has now tallied assists in two of the past three contests and 0-6-6 in his past nine games, while ranking second on the team in assists, blocked shots and time on ice with 2-19-21 and 75 blocked shots on 23:01 TOI in 39 contests. Damon Severson, who returned to action last Saturday after missing 15 games due to an oblique injury suffered on Nov. 19, has collected points in two of the past three games (1-2-3), including his second multi-assist and third multi-point games of the campaign with two assists on Friday. He has recorded 3-3-6 with two multi-point efforts over his last eight outings.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS NOTES:
INJURY REPORT
PLAYER INJURY DATES GAMES MISSED
Noah Cates IR – lower body 11/28-current 16
2023-24 TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 62
QUICK HITS
– Philadelphia is 13-6-4 since Nov. 11, ranking T-5th in the NHL in points percentage (.652), T-8th in points (30) and T-9th in wins in that span. – The Flyers are 8-3-4 in their last 15 games, including a season-high nine-game point streak (7-0-2) from Nov. 30-Dec. 19. – Philadelphia is 16-3-1 when scoring first this season and ranks T-3rd in the NHL in wins when scoring first. – The Flyers are 11-4-1 when leading after the first period and rank T-8th in the NHL in wins when leading after the first. – Philadelphia is 15-2-3 when scoring three-plus goals in a game this season. – The Flyers rank fifth in the NHL with 1,207 shots and sixth with a 32.6 shot-per-game average.
HOME SWEET HOME
– The Flyers will play nine home games during the month of January – the most home games in a month this season. – Philadelphia is 3-1-1, including three extra session contests, in its last five home games since Nov. 30. – The Flyers are 8-7-1 at home this season and have outscored their opponents, 27-12, in those eight wins (not including shootout goals).
PENALTY KILLERS
– Philadelphia ranks T-1st in the NHL with nine shorthanded goals. – The Flyers have allowed just seven power-play goals against in their last 23 games, going 64-for-71 on the penalty kill since Nov. 11. – Philadelphia leads the NHL with a 90.1 penalty kill percentage and in PPGA since Nov. 11. – The Flyers are 35-for-39 on the penalty kill on the road since Nov. 11 to rank fourth in the League in road penalty kill percentage (89.7). – Philadelphia ranks third overall in the NHL with an 85.3 penalty kill percentage.
GOALTENDING TANDEM
– Carter Hart is 3-1-3 in his last seven starts. – He has made 30-plus saves in six of his last eight starts and is 5-2-2 this season when making more than 30 saves. – He earned his 93rd NHL win on Dec. 9 at COL to tie Wayne Stephenson for fourth-most in franchise history. – Samuel Ersson is 9-3-1 in his last 13 starts including two shutouts and five contests decided past regulation in his last nine games. He ranks T-4th in the NHL in shutouts. – He is 9-5-2 in 16 games played this season, allowing three-or-fewer goals in 14 of those contests. – Ersson ranks T-1st in the NHL in shootout wins (3) and ranks T-2nd in Flyers history for most shootout wins in a single season (Steve Mason, 5, 2016-17). – He also ranks fourth among NHL goalies with at least seven starts since Nov. 3 in GAA (2.02) and T-5th in SV% (.926). – He posted a career-high eight-game point streak (7-0-1) from Nov. 10-Dec. 19 and tied his career-high four-game win streak, Nov. 10-Dec. 2. – The Swedish native played in four straight games decided in extra time since Nov. 25 (3-0-1). Per NHL Stats, the last Flyers goaltender to play in four consecutive extra session games was Michal Neuvirth, Nov. 23-Dec. 8, 2015 (3-0-1).
