COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
Jan. 10, 2023 Game No. 40 (12-25-2, 26 pts.)
at Tampa Bay Lightning (24-13-1, 49 pts.), Amalie Arena Road Game No. 17 (2-13-1, 5 pts.)
The Blue Jackets Press Box website, which includes game notes, stats, releases and video/audio clips as well as the 2022-23 Media Guide can be accessed at bluejackets.com/pressbox. Follow @BlueJacketsPR on Twitter for comprehensive information and updates on the team.
THE LAST GAME: JAN. 8, 2023 – CBJ 0 at WSH 1
CBJ Goal Scorers:
WSH Goal Scorers: Gustafsson (7)
Goalies: CBJ – Merzlikins (18/19; 58:30); WSH – Kuemper (38/38; 60:00)
CBJ PP: 0/2; PK: 2/2 | Shots: CBJ: 38 / WSH: 19
3 Stars: 1. Kuemper, WSH; 2. Gustafsson, WSH; 3. Dowd, WSH
Noteworthy: CBJ failed to score a goal for the 4th time this season… CBJ recorded 12 shots in the 1st and 2nd periods before registering 14 in the 3rd… WSH scored GWG 2:43 into the game… Laine led the club with a season-high 9 shots… Berni led the team in hits, recording 6-of-32… Peeke led the club in TOI skating 25:23.
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Danforth (torn labrum); Placed on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (33 games)
Voracek (concussion); Placed on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (28 games)
Blankenburg (ankle); Placed on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); 6-8 weeks (26 games)
Werenski (torn labrum); Placed on Injured Reserve (retro to Nov. 10); rest of regular season (26 games)
Bean (shoulder); Placed on IR (retro to Nov. 15); out indefinitely (24 games)
Jenner (thumb); Placed on IR (Dec. 19); approximately 4 weeks (9 games)
Chinakhov (ankle); Placed on IR (Dec. 20); 4 weeks (8 games)
Tarasov (upper body); Placed on IR (retro to Dec. 30); day-to-day (5 games)
Robinson (upper body); day-to-day (3 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 259
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 10 Placed Tarasov on IR retroactive on Dec. 30 and added Greaves to roster on emergency recall from Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 28 Activated Sillinger off Injured Reserve, added Bemstrom to roster on emergency recall from Cleveland (AHL) and assigned Christiansen to Cleveland (AHL)
TONIGHT’S GAME BROADCAST INFO
7pm ET | Bally Sports Ohio | 97.1 The Fan
AGAINST THE LIGHTNING
2022-23 Series: 0-2-0 (0-1-0 at TBL)
2021-22 Series: 1-2-0 (0-1-0 at TBL)
All-Time Series: 14-24-1-6 (5-13-0-4 at TBL)
Last 10 (Overall | Road): 2-7-1 | 2-6-2
All-Time GF/GA: 98-137
All-Time SF/SA: 1,295-1,347
All-Time PP: 20-of-147
All-Time PK: 120-of-154
THE LAST GAME VS. TBL: DEC. 15, 2022 – CBJ 1 at TBL 4
CBJ Goal Scorers: Marchenko (2)
TBL Goal Scorers: Bellemare (1), Point (16), Hagel (9), EN – Hagel (10)
Goalies: CBJ – Tarasov (25/28; 59:46); TBL – Elliott (24/25; 59:36)
CBJ PP: 0/1; PK: 3/3 | Shots: CBJ: 25 / TBL: 29
3 Stars: 1. Point, TBL; 2. Elliott, TBL; 3. Kucherov, TBL
Noteworthy: CBJ lost their 2nd consecutive game… TBL’s GWG was scored 9:02 into the 3rd period with the club adding two additional 3rd period goals (13:36 and 17:19)… Marchenko scored his 2nd career goal to give him 2-0-2 in 6 games since his making his NHL debut on 12/6 at PIT… Sillinger recorded his 4th assist of the season… Gudbranson registered his 7th assist of the campaign and now has 0-2-2 in the last 3 contests.
SEASON SERIES LEFT: Series is complete.
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. TBL)
Teams met in 2019 and 2020 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with each club winning a series… CBJ have gone 4-7-3 in the past 14 regular season meetings… TBL have won 5-straight home games in the series since 4/1/21 (CBJ; 0-4-1)… The winning team has scored 4+ goals in 8 of the last 9 games of the series, including 6-straight… TBL own 6 of the 8 shutouts in the all-time series and both penalty shot attempts… Neither team has recorded a hat trick in the series… Most goals scored at TBL: 5 (11/25/16)… Most goals allowed at TBL: 8 (10/13/18).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. TBL)
Gaudreau notched his 6th career hat trick on 3/10/22 vs. TBL (Vasilevskiy)… Jenner skated in his 300th career NHL game on 12/31/17 vs. TBL… Korpisalo made his NHL debut on 12/14/15 vs. TBL… Kuraly made his NHL debut on 11/3/16 at TBL… Olivier scored his 1st career NHL goal on 1/30/21 at TBL.
PLAYER NOTABLES vs. TBL
• Gaudreau – 6-10-16 in 15 career GP, including goals in 2 of the last 3 games (4-0-4)
• Johnson – 0-2-2 in 4 career GP, including assists in 2 of his last 3 contests
• Merzlikins – 3-4-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% in 7 career GP, including a 2.62 GAA and .921 SV% in 5 career contests at Tampa Bay
• Nyquist – 10-9-19 in 29 career GP, including 4-2-6 in the last seven contests
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 2 at Winnipeg 4
The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a second-consecutive contest with a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Friday night at Canada Life Centre…The Bolts fell to 24-13-1 on the season with a road record of 9-9-0…The Lightning finished the three-game road trip with two points and a 1-2-0 record…Anthony Cirelli opened the scoring with his second goal of the season when he fired home a rebound off a shot from Steven Stamkos to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with 8:12 remaining in the first period…Pierre-Luc Dubois answered during a 4-on-4 to tie the game at one at the 19:21 mark of the first…Nikita Kucherov gave the Bolts a 2-1 lead 1:35 into the second period when he took a pass from Ian Cole and ripped a wrist shot past Connor Hellebuyck, with Cirelli picking up the secondary helper for his 100th career assist…Dubois tied the game again for WPG with a power-play goal on an extended 5-on-3 with 12:55 remaining in the middle frame…With WPG on another 5-on-3 near the beginning of the third period, Kyle Connor scored at the 5:38 mark to put the Jets up 3-2…Morgan Barron scored an empty-net goal with 1:26 remaining to cap off the 4-2 win for WPG…Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves on 19 shots against in the loss…Nikita Kucherov skated in his 600th career game.
PP: TBL – 0-4 WPG – 2-6
SOG: TBL – 28 WPG – 20
Attendance: 15,325
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Blue Jackets are playing the third of three matchups this season and the second meeting at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts collected a 4-1 win in the last meeting Dec. 15 at AMALIE Arena…Brandon Hagel led the way for the Lightning with two goals and one assist…Pierre Edouard Bellemare opened the scoring at the 3:57 mark of the first before Kirill Marchenko tied the game at one with 16:50 left in the second period…From there, the Bolts tallied three goals in the third period, two from Hagel and one from Brayden Point…Brian Elliott got the start in goal and made 24 saves on 25 shots against in the win…The Lightning are 2-0-0 against CBJ this season, outscoring their opponent by a combined score of 9-3…Tampa Bay has won six consecutive home games vs. CBJ and eight of the last nine meetings at AMALIE Arena…Steven Stamkos has picked up points in five of his last six games vs. CBJ (5-5—10)…Nikita Kucherov has points in 10 of his last 11 contests vs. CBJ (10-13—23)…Kucherov has recorded a multi-point game in five straight home games vs. CBJ (4-9—13) and seven of the last eight (5-12—17)…Victor Hedman has pointed in six straight games vs. CBJ (1-8—9)…Andrei Vasilevskiy has won five straight contests and 13 of his last 15 starts vs. CBJ…Vasilevskiy has collected wins in six consecutive home games vs. CBJ…Tampa Bay is 30-14-0 with one tie all-time vs. CBJ, including a home record of 17-5-0…Stamkos (15-16—31) and Kucherov (11-20—31) are tied for the Lightning franchise record for career points vs. CBJ.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. CBJ
T1. Nikita Kucherov – 31 pts. (11-20—31, 23 GP)
T1. Steven Stamkos – 31 pts. (15-16—31, 29 GP)
- Brayden Point – 26 pts. (12-14—26, 22 GP)
- Victor Hedman – 24 pts. (4-20—24, 34 GP)
- Ondrej Palat – 20 pts. (10-10—20, 28 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the first game of a brief, two-game homestand…The Bolts will play just five of their 13 games in January on home ice…The Lightning are 6-4-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 15- 4-1 at home this season and have won seven straight games at AMALIE Arena…The Lightning are looking to sweep CBJ in the regular season for a second-straight year and the eighth time in the last 13 seasons.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 84
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Day-to-day) 18 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 2 – Signed D Nick Perbix to a two-year contract extension