COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Laine (clavicle fracture-Dec. 14; NHL Player Assistance Program- Jan. 28); (17 games for injury)
Boqvist (upper body); Placed on IR retroactive to Jan. 25; Out at least through All-Star break (2 games) Fantilli (leg injury suffered on Jan. 28)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 178
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 28 Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program
AGAINST THE BLUES
2023-24 Series: 1-0-0 (0-0-0 at STL)
2022-23 Series: 0-2-0 (0-1-0 at STL)
All-Time Series: 34-42-3-13 (11-26-1-8 at STL)
Last 10 (Overall | Road): 4-5-1 | 2-6-2
All-Time GF/GA: 247/287
All-Time SF/SA: 2,450/2,744
All-Time PP: 63-of-381
All-Time PK: 311-of-398
THE LAST GAME VS. STL: DEC. 8, 2023 – CBJ 5 vs. STL 2
CBJ Goal Scorers: Marchenko (9), Fantilli (8), Chinakhov (4), PP – Chinakhov (5), EN – Texier (5)
STL Goal Scorers: Thomas (9), Thomas (10)
Goalies: CBJ – Greaves (41/43; 60:00); STL – Hofer (17/21; 54:34)
CBJ PP: 1/2; PK: 3/3 | Shots: CBJ: 22 / STL: 43
CBJ Noteworthy: CBJ improved to 4-1-1 in the last 6 home games… CBJ led 2-1 after the 1st and 2nd periods before scoring 3 goals in the 3rd… Chinakhov notched his 1st career 3-point effort and 2nd career 2-goal game with 2-1-3… Fantilli scored a goal in his 2nd consecutive game to extend his point streak to 3-straight games (3-2-5)… Marchenko registered his 3rd multi-point effort of the campaign and 9th of his career with 1-1-2…Voronkov notched his 1st career NHL multi-point and multi-assist game with 0-2-2… Greaves notched his 1st career NHL win in his season debut with CBJ.
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. STL)
The teams split 5 of 6 season series prior to STL sweeping the series in 2022-23… CBJ have swept 1 season series all-time, outscoring STL 11-3 and winning both games of the 2014-15 campaign… The home team is 6-1-0 in the last 7 meetings dating back to Nov. 1, 2019… Winning team has scored 5+ goals in each of the last 5 meetings and 4+ goals in 8 of the past 9 games of the series… CBJ have also recorded a power play goal in 7 of the last 9 meetings overall since 10/25/18 (8-of-24; 33.3 pct.)… Teams have combined for just 5 shutouts in the all-time series with the most-recent one recorded on 4/5/08 (Legace; 25 saves in 3-0 W at St. Louis)… CBJ’s lone hat trick in the series was recorded by RJ Umberger in a 5-2 win at NWA on 11/30/09… Most goals scored at STL: 7 (10/25/18)… Most goals allowed at STL: 7 (10/17/02).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. STL)
Gaudreau notched his 400th career NHL assist on 10/15/22 at STL… Gudbranson played his 600th career game on 1/24/22 vs. STL… Jenner registered 100th career point (assist) on 11/12/16 vs. STL… Roslovic tallied his 1st career NHL assist on 2/9/18 vs. STL.
FINAL GAME BEFORE NHL ALL-STAR AND MIDSEASON BREAK
The Blue Jackets enter their final game before the NHL break having and gone 1-2-1 on their current five-game road trip following Sunday’s 4-2 loss at Seattle. The club opened the road trip with a 4-1 loss at Edmonton on Tuesday before earning points in two consecutive games with a 5-2 victory at Calgary on Thursday and a 5-4 overtime loss at Vancouver on Saturday. Following Tuesday’s game at St. Louis, the Blue Jackets will be off for All-Star Weekend and the NHL midseason break, returning to action 11 days later on Feb. 10 vs. Tampa Bay at Nationwide Arena. Columbus is 11-13-6 in the past 30 contests dating back to Nov. 22. The club has picked up points in seven of its last 10 road games dating back to Dec. 14 (4-3-3). CBJ play nine-of-10 games away from Nationwide Arena between Jan. 23-Feb. 21, including five-straight from Jan. 23-30 (Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle, St. Louis) and four-straight from Feb. 13-21 (Ottawa, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim). The club faces off against nine Western Conference opponents during that stretch of games. Columbus is 6-7-4 vs. the West this season, including points in six of nine contests against the Pacific Division (3-3-3).
PLAYING EXTRA
Columbus has played past regulation in eight (3-5) of the last 16 contests dating back to Dec. 21 vs. Washington including the club playing past regulation six times (2-4) over an eight-game stretch from Dec. 21-Jan. 6. The last time the club played in at least six overtimes/shootouts over an eight-game stretch was when it played six-in-seven from Mar. 11-25, 2021. CBJ have had 15 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
BLOCK IT LIKE IT’S HOT
Columbus blocked 20 shots on Sunday and has been credited with 674 blocked shots over the past 38 games dating back to Nov. 6. The team ranks fourth in the NHL in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (17.73) and fifth in total blocked shots (883). Defenseman Erik Gudbranson has registered a blocked shot in 44-of-45 games this season and leads the team and ranks 15th in the league in blocked shots in 2023- 24 with 111.
ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Kasperi Kapanen – Lower-body (Placed on IR on Jan. 17)
2023-24 Total Man Games Lost: 16
RECENT TRANSACTIONS J
anuary 28 – Recalled defenseman Tyler Tucker from Springfield
Blues vs. Blue Jackets • The Blues and Blue Jackets will meet for their 2nd and final matchup of the season • The Blue Jackets won the 1st matchup of the season, 5-2 on Dec. 8 in Columbus • The Blues went 2-0-0 against Columbus last season, winning both games 5-2 • The Blues are 5-2-1 in their last 8 games against Columbus • Going back to Nov. 28, 2015, the Blues are 9-4-1 in their last 14 games against Columbus • The Blues have won their last 3 games against Columbus at Enterprise Center • The Blues are also 6-1-0 in their last 7 home games against the Blue Jackets • The Blues are 10-7-1 against the Eastern Conference this season • The Blues now hold the 2nd Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, with less games played than Nashville
Extra Notes • The Blues are 20-2-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the 4th most wins in the NHL (1. Vancouver, 26) • The Blues were the last team in the NHL to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season (started 12-0-0) • The Blues are 20-3-1 this season when they score at least 3 goals in a game • The Blues are also 23-3-1 this season when allowing 3 or less goals • The Blues have been shorthanded 127 times this season, which is the least in the NHL (2. Tampa Bay, 132) • The Blues have scored 11 shorthanded goals this season, which shares the most in the NHL (Dallas) • The Blues’ 11 shorthanded goals this season are the most they have had in a season since they had 11 in 2002-03 • The last time the Blues had more than 11 shorthanded goals in a season was when they had 15 in 2000-01 • Both Brayden Schenn and Pavel Buchnevich each scored 3 goals on Nov. 11 at Colorado, becoming the third pair of Blues players to score a hat trick in the same game, following Doug Gilmour and Mark Hunter (Feb. 23, 1986) as well as Kevin LaVallee and Dave Barr (Oct. 20, 1984) • Robert Thomas posted a 5-game goal streak (5g, 1a) from Nov. 1 to Nov. 9, which is the longest goal streak of his career and shares the 3rd longest goal streak in the NHL this season (1. Reinhart, 8 games) • Robert Thomas recorded his 200th career assist on Jan. 23 at Calgary, becoming the 3rd Blue in franchise history to record 200+ assists prior to turning 25 (Bernie Federko & Doug Gilmour) • On Friday at Seattle, Pavel Buchnevich (2-1—3) became the seventh player in Blues history to score a game-tying goal in the third period and the overtime winner in the same contest. The others: Jaden Schwartz (March 21, 2018 & Dec. 6, 2016), Vladimir Tarasenko (April 7, 2016 & Oct. 28, 2014), Chris Stewart (March 9, 2011), Bill Geurin (Dec. 23, 2006), Rod Brind’Amour (Jan. 31, 1991) and Rob Ramage (March 10, 1984)
Blues Off To Strong Start Under Drew Bannister • On Dec. 12, Drew Bannister was named the Blues’ Interim Head Coach and served his first game as the Blues Head Coach, and his first as an NHL coach, on Dec. 14 vs. Ottawa • The Blues started off Bannister’s coaching era with a 4-2 win on Dec. 14 vs. Ottawa and followed up with a 4-3 overtime win on Dec. 16 vs. Dallas • Bannister is 1 of 4 coaches in Blues history to start his tenure with back-to-back wins (Mike Keenan, Leo Boivin, and Al Arbour) • The Blues are 13-6-1 under Drew Bannister • The Blues’ 13 wins since Dec. 14 share 7th in the NHL (1. Edmonton, 16), while their 27 points share 10th in the NHL in that span (1. Edmonton/Vancouver, 32) • The Blues power play is 15 for 59 (25.4%) since Dec. 14, which ranks 8th in the NHL (1. Carolina, 35.8%) and scored a power play goal in 3 straight games (Jan. 11-15) for the 1st time this season • Before Bannister took over, the Blues power play was 7 for 83 (8.4%), which ranked 31st in the NHL (through Dec. 13) • Bannister appeared in 164 career NHL games over 6 seasons with Tampa Bay, Edmonton, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and the NY Rangers, posting 30 points (5g, 25a) and 161 PIMs
