NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY/Illness OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Tomas Nosek Upper-body Nov. 22 (suffered 11/18) 26
Dougie Hamilton Upper-body Nov. 30 (suffered 11/28) 22
Ondrej Palat Lower-body Jan. 4 7 J
ack Hughes Upper-body Jan. 6 (suffered 1/5) 5
Jonas Siegenthaler Lower-body Jan. 7 (suffered 1/6) 4
Brendan Smith Lower-body Jan. 17 (suffered 1/17) 1
Transactions
DATE PLAYER ACTION
1/18 Brendan Smith Placed on I.r. (lower-body, sprained right knee)
1/18 Santeri Hatakka Recalled from Utica (AHL)
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Jenner (fractured jaw); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 8; Approx. 6 Weeks (15 games)
Laine (clavicle fracture); Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 14; Approx. 6 Weeks (13 games)
Blankenburg (upper body) Placed on IR retroactive to Dec. 19; Day-to-Day (11 games)
Werenski (ankle); Placed on IR on Dec. 29; Approx. 4-to-6 Weeks (8 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 169
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 19 Loaned Jiricek to Cleveland (AHL) and placed Martin on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Cleveland (AHL)
AGAINST THE DEVILS
2023-24 Series: 1-1-1 (0-1-0 vs. NJD)
2022-23 Series: 0-3-0 (0-1-0 vs. NJD)
All-Time Series: 28-18-1-3 (16-9-0-0 vs. NJD)
Last 10 (Overall | Home): 4-5-1 | 7-3-0
All-Time GF/GA: 134/124
All-Time SF/SA: 1,402/1,528
All-Time PP: 18-of-161
All-Time PK: 132-of-160
THE LAST GAME VS. NJD: DEC. 27, 2023 – CBJ 3 vs. NJD 4 (OT)
CBJ Goal Scorers: Bean (2), Danforth (9), Chinakhov (10)
NJD Goal Scorers: Palat (5), Mercer (9), Hughes (5), OT – Meier (9)
Goalies: CBJ – Merzlikins (31/35; 62:06); NJD – Vanecek (26/29; 61:46)
CBJ PP: 0/3; PK: 3/3 | Shots: CBJ: 29 / NJD: 35
Noteworthy: CBJ moved to 1-1-1 in the season series vs. NJD… CBJ stretched road points streak to 3-straight (2-0-1)… CBJ and NJD were tied at 1 after the 1st period and CBJ led 2-1 after the 2nd… CBJ retook the lead with 2:26 to play but NJD tied it at 3-3 with 1:25 remaining… NJD scored 2:12 into OT for the extra point… Chinakhov scored a goal to give him 7-4-11 in the past 8 games… Danforth scored a goal in his 2nd consecutive game… Fantilli registered an assist for his 2nd-straight games and has 1-4-5 in last 5 outings… Gaunce recorded an assist, giving him 0-2-2 in the past 4 games… Texier tallied an assist and has collected 1-3-4 in the last 5 contests.
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. NJD)
CBJ are 16-6-2 in the last 24 games of the series dating back to 3/5/17… Winning team has scored 4+ goals in 6 of the last 8 games of the series… 7 of the past 11 games in the series have been decided by a single goal… CBJ own 4 of the 7 shutouts in the series with Merzlikins registering the most recent one with 41 saves in a 5-0 win on 1/18/20 at NWA… Most goals scored at NJD: 6 – 3x (MR: 2/10/18)… Most goals allowed vs. NJD: 6 – 2x (MR: 12/16/23).
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. NJD)
Gaudreau notched his 700th career point (assist) on 12/16/23 vs. NJD and recorded his 5th career hat trick on 3/12/19 vs. NJD (Blackwood)… Peeke scored his 1st career goal on 2/16/20 at NJD… Provorov skated in his 300th career game on 2/6/20 vs. NJD and notched his 100th career point (assist) on 10/9/19 vs. NJD.
KICKING OFF THE NEW YEAR
The Blue Jackets have recorded points in six of the last nine (3-3-3) and 15 of the last 25 games (10-10-5) dating back to Nov. 22, following a 4-3 shootout victory vs. Vancouver on Monday. Columbus, who is 6-6-3 in the last 15 games at home, concludes a threegame homestand on Friday vs. the Devils. The club opened the homestand with a 7-4 loss to Seattle last Saturday before downing Vancouver on Monday. The Blue Jackets recorded a season-high five-game points streak on the road (3-0-2) from Dec. 14-Jan. 4. CBJ kicked off 2024 playing five-of-seven contests at Nationwide Arena between Jan. 2-19 and will conclude the month with a five-game road trip at Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle and St. Louis from Jan. 23-30. Following Friday’s game against the Devils, the club will play nine of the next 10 on the road over a month’s span from Jan. 23-Feb. 21.
PLAYING EXTRA
Columbus has played past regulation in seven of the last 11 contests dating back to Dec. 21 vs. Washington. The club played 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 14 of their games decided after regulation this season, tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.
BLOCK IT LIKE IT’S HOT Columbus has been credited with 597 blocked shots over the past 33 games dating back to Nov. 6. The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 38 blocked shots on Dec. 14 at Toronto. The team ranks fourth in the NHL in blocked shots-per-60 minutes (18.02) and fifth in total blocked shots (806). Defenseman Erik Gudbranson leads the team and ranks 14th in the league in blocked shots in 2023-24 with 104.
