PREVIEW: Blue Jackets get back to action vs. Blackhawks
Columbus plays its first game in two weeks as it welcomes Chicago to Nationwide Arena tonight
The Blue Jackets came back from their respectively 4 Nations Face-Off break destination tanned, rested, and hopefully ready.
They enter the final 26-game mad dash to the end of the season just one point out of a playoff spot and are set to play meaningful games down the stretch for the first time in years.
And reinforcements are on the way. Captain Boone Jenner is set to make his season debut tonight vs. Chicago after suffering a shoulder injury in the days before the start of the season, while leading goal scorer Kirill Marchenko and top-pair defenseman Dante Fabbro are also set to return from injuries.
Those players re-enter the lineup to help bolster the club going into the stretch run, and they know just how important these upcoming games will be.
“I think they get bigger every game, every week here,” Jenner said. “With 26 games left, you look at the schedule, it’s a couple of months. It’s super tight right now as it stands, and it’s only going to be tighter and these games mean more and more as you come down the stretch. The job the guys have done to get ourselves in this position has been outstanding, and it’s going to take more from all of us to get to where we want to be by the end of this.
“We know what’s at stake. Each game is a big one for us.”
So how do things setup for the Blue Jackets on the flip side of the break? The good news is that of the 26 games, 14 of them will be at Nationwide Arena, one of the friendlier schedules in the league in that regard and something that should help one of the best home teams in the NHL.
The bad news, though, is that of the remaining games, 17 of them will be against teams currently in playoff position, and six more will be against teams within six points of a postseason spot. Tonight, though, will not be one of them as the Blackhawks enter second-to-last in the league in points percentage.
How will the Blue Jackets handle it?
“It’s just one game at a time,” head coach Dean Evason said. “Are we excited about the finish, the stretch, whatever you want to call it? Of course. We’re excited to play meaningful hockey games. We’re looking forward to getting back after it and competing our butts off and see where we sit.”
The Blue Jackets spent the last three days getting their legs back underneath them with a trio of practices. It’s all in an effort to hit the ground running starting tonight against the Blackhawks.
“This is why you play,” veteran forward James van Riemsdyk said. “You get a chance to play in the playoffs, and that’s the first goal everyone has going into the season is to try to find a way to make the playoffs. Obviously down the stretch, the games are going to get tighter and tighter, and the margin for error gets less and less. We’re going to be playing against a lot of the teams that we’re jockeying with for those spots, so it’s going to make for an entertaining stretch run to the end.”
Head coach: Anders Sorensen (First season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.69 (28th) | Scoring defense: 3.44 (30th) | PP: 24.6 percent (8th) | PK: 82.0 percent (7th)
The narrative: The team of the 2010s – Chicago won three Stanley Cups in a six-year span from 2010-15 – has fully entered rebuild mode, with the aim on being the team of the late 2020s. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, Connor Bedard, is the centerpiece, but the Blackhawks have made eight first-round picks in the last three drafts to try to bring in the talent to contend down the road. This will be the fifth straight season without playoff hockey at the Madhouse on Madison, but better days seem to be ahead.
Team leaders: Much ink has been spilled about the ups and downs of Bedard’s season, but the second-year forward still leads the team at age 19 with 49 points, including 16 goals and a team-best 33 assists. Teuvo Teravainen follows with a 12-28-40 mark, while fellow veteran Ryan Donato has turned into a possible trade target with a team-best 19 goals among his 37 points. Tyler Bertuzzi adds 17 goals including eight on the power play, while a pair of former Blue Jackets are next on the scoring chart in Seth Jones (6-20-26) and Nick Foligno (11-14-25).
Petr Mrazek leads the team with 31 starts in net and is 10-8-2 with a 3.27 GAA and .897 save percentage, while Arvid Soderblom is 7-12-5 in 25 appearances with a 3.01 GAA and .906 save percentage.
What’s new: Luke Richardson went 8-16-2 as the team’s head coach at the start of the season, but the lack of progress led to the team replacing him with Sorensen, and the NHL’s third-ever European coach has amassed a 9-19-5 record at the helm. It’s been a long season, as the Blackhawks have just one three-game winning streak on the year and have emerged victorious in just three of their last 14 games (3-6-5).
Trending: A 6-4 win in Chicago on Dec. 1 extended the Blue Jackets’ winning streak in the series to four games, and Columbus has captured five of the last six.
Former CBJ: Foligno is the team captain and Jones has been its top defenseman this season.
Scratches: Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson
Injured reserve: Kevin Labanc (shoulder), Sean Monahan (upper body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body)
Roster Report: The Blue Jackets activated Jenner and Marchenko off injured reserve Friday and are expected to get the two forwards as well as Fabbro back from injury. LaBate was recalled this week and is expected to play his first NHL game since March 2017.
The Blue Jackets have points in 20 of the last 24 home games (16-4-4). … Coming off leading the 4 Nations Face-Off with six points, Zach Werenski has a 14-35-49 line in his last 40 games and has 27 points (6-21-27) in his past 21, plus a 21-game home point streak (13-25-38), tied for the fourth-longest by a defenseman in NHL history and third-longest by an American born player at any position. His average ice time of 26:53 leads all NHL players with at least 10 games played, and he’s second among league defensemen in goals (17) and tied for second in points (59) on the season. He’s set a CBJ franchise record for points by a defenseman in a season … Kirill Marchenko has an 11-17-28 line in his last 24 games and 39 points in his last 34 (15-24-39). He is tied for the NHL lead with a plus-31 rating. … Kent Johnson has 12 points (6-6-12) in the past 12 games. … Adam Fantilli has an 8-9-17 line in the last 18 games. … James van Riemsdyk has notched a 7-9-16 line in the last 18 games. … Columbus is tied for first in the NHL with 128 goals at 5-on-5 and first in goals per game at home (3.94), and their 3.21 goals per game are 10th in the league. … Blue Jackets defensemen have 36 goals this season, the most in the NHL, and 139 points, good for second place. … Ivan Provorov is two assists from 200.
Feb. 22, 2011: Steve Mason makes 20 saves as the Blue Jackets post a 4-0 shutout win vs. Nashville in Nationwide Arena. Rick Nash scores a pair of goals while Matt Calvert and Antoine Vermette also tally.
Feb. 22, 2012: The Blue Jackets acquire goaltender Curtis McElhinney, a 2012 second-round pick and a conditional 2013 fifth-round pick from Phoenix in exchange for center Antoine Vermette.
Feb. 22, 2019: Columbus swings a blockbuster trade, acquiring center Matt Duchene and defenseman Julius Bergman from Ottawa in exchange for a pair of first-round draft picks as well as wings Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson. Duchene switches dressing rooms and plays in a 3-0 win for the Blue Jackets in Ottawa that night, with Sergei Bobrovsky stopping 22 shots for his fourth shutout of the year.
Feb. 22, 2022: Patrik Laine scores 20 seconds into overtime as the Blue Jackets take a 4-3 home win vs. Toronto.
Feb. 22, 2024: The Blue Jackets acquire wing Alex Nylander and a 2026 conditional sixth-round pick from Pittsburgh in exchange for wing Emil Bemstrom.
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COLUMBUS, 4th in Metropolitan
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CHICAGO, 8th in Central
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LW 10 Dmitri Voronkov
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C 19 Adam Fantilli
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RW 86 Kirill Marchenko
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LW 38 Boone Jenner
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C 4 Cole Sillinger
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RW 91 Kent Johnson
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LW 27 Zach Aston-Reese
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C 17 Justin Danforth
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RW 24 Mathieu Olivier
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LW 21 James van Riemsdyk
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C 7 Sean Kuraly
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RW 14 Joseph LaBate
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LD 8 Zach Werenski
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RD 15 Dante Fabbro
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G 90 Elvis Merzlikins
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LD 5 Denton Mateychuk
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RD 9 Ivan Provorov
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G 40 Daniil Tarasov
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LD 2 Jake Christiansen
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RD 78 Damon Severson
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It looked like a hockey game between teams that hadn’t played in two weeks most of the evening, but the Blue Jackets got exactly what they needed Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
Paced by Zach Werenski’s three points on a goal and two assists plus Kent Johnson’s two goals, the Jackets downed the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 while returning from almost two weeks off for the NHL’s midseason pause for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Adam Fantilli and rookie Denton Mateychuk also added goals in the win, which pulled the Blue Jackets (27-22-8) even at 62 points with the Detroit Red Wings in a battle for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Elvis Merzlikins earned the goaltending win with 27 saves, while Boone Jenner, the Blue Jackets’ captain, made his season debut while returning from shoulder surgery. Kirill Marchenko also returned from a fractured jaw and Dante Fabbro played his first game after being sidelined with a concussion prior to the break.
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets rout Chicago Blackhawks in return from NHL break
Things haven’t quite gone as planned for the Rangers this season.
After falling just a few games shy of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance last year, GM Chris Drury opted to give this core one more shot to put it all together — and unfortunately it hasn’t quite worked as planned.
New York’s stars have underperformed mightily, and as a result, they’ve found themselves on the outside looking in at a very crowded Eastern Conference Wild Card race for the majority of the year.
They’ve been playing better hockey of late and have been able to make up some ground thanks to the arrival of J.T. Miller in a blockbuster deal with the Canucks, but they still have a ways to go.
Drury could look to add some pieces to this club ahead of next month’s deadline, but he should only do so with an eye towards the future and the majority of the impending free agents should be shipped out of town to retain assets.
If ends up being the case, here are five players to keep an eye on…
Lindgren is a fan favorite for his all-out style of play, but a separation has felt inevitable ever since he and the organization failed to reach an agreement on a long-term contract extension over the offseason.
New York instead opted to settle on a one-year pact, which would allow him to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
Lindgren has made it clear that this is where he wants to be moving forward, but the fact that the front office was willing to dish out a five-year extension to Will Borgen after just a couple of games may be evidence they are ready to move on.
The 26-year-old has been able to stay healthy after missing the first five games of the year with an upper-body injury, but his production has remained inconsistent on both ends of the ice despite remaining alongside star defenseman Adam Fox.
A trade may even make New York stronger on the backend.
Kreider is currently the longest-tenured Ranger, but could he be on the way out next?
Him and former captain Jacob Trouba were among the players made available for trade in the memo Drury sent out to teams just a few months ago — Trouba, of course, was shipped out of town in a deal with the Ducks.
Kreider hasn’t done much to help his cause since then, as he came out publicly shortly after and disclosed that he’s been dealing with back issues and he’s producing some of the worst numbers of his career.
The 33-year-old has 16 goals (five power-play) and 20 assists through 47 games.
He does have a 15-team no-trade list which will limit his suitors a bit, and his $6.5 million cap hit would likely be tough for any team to squeeze in midseason, but you never know what could happen this time of year.
When Smith was acquired this offseason, the expectation was that he’d come in and serve as a stop-gate option alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider on the top line, but that trio was ultimately short-lived.
While things didn’t work out on that top pairing, Smith has been a steady option elsewhere for the Blueshirts.
The 33-year-old winger isn’t a star by any means, but as he’s done throughout his 14-year career, he’s simply gone out and done his job at both even strength and on the penalty kill night in and night out.
He’s contributed 10 goals and 26 assists through 54 games.
Shipping Smith out of town would likely make the Rangers worse this season, but it’s more of a move aimed towards the future, as they likely won’t have the cap flexibility to bring him back next season.
His playoff experience would make him a valuable addition for any contender.
The expectation coming into this season was that Jones would be given every opportunity to scratch out an everyday role on the Blueshirts’ blueline.
He played well enough during training camp and preseason action to begin the year in the lineup, however, that proved to be very short-lived as he quickly found his way back into the press box night after night.
The 24-year-old didn’t appear in a game for over a month.
He voiced his frustration to the NY Post about his lack of a role, and the team responded by giving him permission to speak with other clubs about a potential trade, but ultimately nothing transpired on that front.
Jones returned to the lineup for a few games when Urho Vaakanainen was sidelined with an illness — but he’s still on the outside looking in, and the Rangers should move him elsewhere if they aren’t going to give him a legit opportunity.
But if they do move Lindgren and don’t acquire a defenseman, it may be his time to shine.
Vesey has been a valuable asset during his second stint with the Rangers.
He was used up-and-down the lineup two seasons ago by then head coach Gerard Gallant, mainly filling a spot in the bottom-six but slotting in wherever needed, and was one of their most reliable penalty killers.
But for some reason over the past two seasons, Vesey has fallen out of favor with new headman Peter Laviolette, and he’s seen his role decrease significantly.
The 31-year-old was passed over numerous times for other fourth liners as he watched from the press box for eight consecutive games last month before finally returning to the lineup after Adam Edstrom’s injury.
Vesey — an impending free agent — also voiced his frustration to the NY Post, saying he felt his career was “dying by being here.”
Any contender could use his versatility and penalty-killing prowess in their bottom-six, so if Laviolette isn’t going to use him, they should let him finish the season somewhere where he’s actually going to play.
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D Ryan Lindgren
LW Chris Kreider
RW Reilly Smith
D Zac Jones
LW Jimmy Vesey
Kent Johnson scores 2 goals, Blue Jackets beat Blackhawks 5-1
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February 22, 2025 / 9:01 PM CST / AP
Zach Werenski scored and had two assists and Kent Johnson scored twice for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday to end a four-game losing streak.
Denton Mateychuk and Adam Fantilli each scored, Dmitri Voronkov had two assists and Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves in the teams’ return from a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Craig Smith scored and Petr Mrazek made 16 saves for the Blackhawks.
Johnson made it 2-0 at 1:12 of the second period and Mateychuk countered Smith’s power-play goal with his score 12:28 into the second to make it 3-1.
Blackhawks: If they were hoping for a reset after the break, they didn’t get it. They have one win in the past six games (1-3-2) and are 2-4-4 in the past 10.
Blue Jackets: Getting healthy for a playoff run is important. Captain Boone Jenner made his season debut after undergoing shoulder surgery on Oct. 9 and had an assist. Forward Kirill Marchenko (fractured jaw) and defenseman Dante Fabbro (concussion) returned after missing three games.
Mateychuk, a rookie defenseman, gave the Blue Jackets some breathing room by skating unchecked across the blue line and wristing a shot from 42 feet for his second goal and a 4-1 lead.
Werenski extended his home point streak to 22 games, tying Phil Housley (1991-92) for the third-longest streak by a defenseman in NHL history. Bobby Orr holds the record of 25 games in the 1974-75 season.
The Blackhawks host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and the Blue Jackets host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
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