PREVIEW: Blue Jackets return to Nationwide to host Sharks

If you look at the numbers, the Blue Jackets lost a game you’d think they would have won Thursday night in Montreal. 

Columbus carried the pace of play from the opening faceoff and had major edges in stats like shot attempts (55-33), scoring chances (30-12) and high-danger chances (13-2) at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick, but at the end of the night, the scoreboard read Montreal 2, Columbus 1. 

And this time of year, that final score is the only thing that matters, especially because it marked the second loss in the last three games for the Blue Jackets. On the recently completed three-game road trip, Columbus scored just four goals, and head coach Rick Bowness said after Friday’s practice that the offensive output hasn’t been good enough.  

“Are we outchancing teams and outshooting teams? Yeah,” Bowness said. “Analytics, that all looks good, but don’t hide behind the analytics. We are going to have to be harder offensively to play against. I’m not gonna hide behind analytics and say expected goals for and the shots. That’s not winning games for us. 

“My job is to give them the direction on how we’re going to score more goals or be harder to play against, and I go back to that term I used a long time ago – nasty. We’re going to have to get a little bit nastier here to compensate for that.” 

As things come down the stretch in the exceedingly close Eastern Conference playoff race, the Blue Jackets are going to be judged not on possession stats but wins and losses. Columbus has won 20 of its past 28 games – and has points in 12 straight home games, tying a franchise record – to get back on the right side of the bar by one point, but nothing is guaranteed down the stretch. 

The Blue Jackets will play three games of their last 10 against first-place teams (two vs. Carolina, one vs. Buffalo), plus two games against a Boston team they're battling for a playoff spot and single contests vs. Montreal and Detroit teams that are in the race as well. All of those teams have something to play for, and goals have been harder and harder to come by in the last few weeks. 

“Normally the last 12, 15 games are kind of more playoff-like games, especially with teams pushing to make the playoffs,” forward Mason Marchment said. “Basically everyone is pushing to find a spot somewhere, so yeah, the intensity is definitely getting up, and that’s good for us.” 

Just those 10 games remain, starting with tonight’s contest against San Jose at Nationwide Arena. The Sharks are in their own battle to stay in the postseason race in the Western Conference, meaning the Blue Jackets will see a desperate opponent this evening, and Bowness wants the Blue Jackets to know they’re getting everyone’s best shot down the stretch. 

“I’ve been telling the guys for weeks, you’ve earned the respect around the league now that when we play teams, we’re not surprising anybody,” Bowness said. “They are giving us their A-game, and it’ll get harder the next 10 games because now it’s life or death for a lot of teams. We have that third spot (in the Metro) right now. It’s up to us to keep it, and when you go into every game now, you’re getting everyone’s best game and we’ve seen that. 

“We’re gonna get everyone’s A-game, but more important, they have to see ours. That’s what's more important. We keep the focus on that. We know what to expect from them, that’s fine, but what about us? We play these teams, we get their best, but they better see our best.”

Scratches: Kent Johnson, Dmitri Voronkov, Jake Christiansen, Damon Severson (upper body injury, week to week) 

Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)      

Roster Report: Bowness said Friday that Severson will be out for a while with an injury suffered in Thursday night’s game vs. Montreal. Merzlikins was the first goalie off Friday and could start this evening, as both netminders will likely see action in the back-to-back.  

This Day in CBJ History  

March 28, 2012: 2011 second-round pick Boone Jenner signs his entry level contract with the Blue Jackets. Jenner would go on to become the team captain and play the most games (797) and seasons (13) in CBJ history through Thursday's game.   

March 28, 2013: Cam Atkinson scores 10 seconds into a game at Edmonton, tying Rick Nash’s CBJ record for the fastest goal at the start of a game. Columbus would drop a 6-4 final to the Oilers.   

March 28, 2023: Kirill Marchenko notches his 20th goal of the season, tallying in a 6-2 loss vs. the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. With the goal, Marchenko ties the CBJ rookie record for goals in a season, set in 2017-18 by Pierre-Luc Dubois.  

March 28, 2024: The club recognizes longtime play-by-play announcer Jeff Rimer with a ceremony prior to the start of a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena. Rimer, who retired at the end of the 2023-24 season, spent 20 years as the Blue Jackets’ TV voice to conclude a broadcasting career that spanned six decades. 

The Numbers Game  

Columbus is 20-4-4 since Jan. 11 and leads the NHL in points percentage (.786) in that span. ... Zach Werenski has moved into fifth place in CBJ single-season annals with 77 points this year. With 21 goals and 56 assists – three short of tying the franchise record – he is third among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. Werenski has points in 28 of his last 35 games (12-35-47) as well as 39 of the last 49 (17-49-66). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (25, tied for eighth overall in NHL) and has tied Artemi Panarin’s team record set in 2018-19. ... Adam Fantilli has eight goals in the last 16 games and posted a 9-14-23 line in the last 22 games. He has points in seven of the last nine games (3-6-9). ... Kirill Marchenko has a 7-11-18 line in the last 20 games, is second in the NHL with six shootout goals and has scored on 10 of 15 career shootout attempts, the best mark among all active NHLers and second best in league history (minimum 10 attempts). ... Charlie Coyle has 11 goals and 30 points in the past 28 games. ... Jet Greaves is 12-2-2 in his last 17 appearances with a 2.23 GAA, while Elvis Merzlikins is 8-2-2 in his last 13 with a 2.50 GAA. Greaves has a 1.66 GAA and .929 save percentage in his last six games as well. ... Mathieu Olivier has 11 goals in the last 21 games, tying him for eighth in the NHL since Jan. 26. … Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 54 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. … Columbus has scored first in 43 of 72 games overall, one behind Washington for the most in the NHL. ...  The Blue Jackets are 6-1 in shootouts this year. ... Boone Jenner has 209 career goals, four behind Cam Atkinson for second in team history.  

Know The Foe: San Jose Sharks  

Head coach: Ryan Warsofsky (Second season)     

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.00 (18th) | Scoring defense: 3.57 (31st) | PP: 19.8 percent (18th) | PK: 79.0 percent (16th)      

The narrative: The Sharks made the playoffs all but two seasons from 1998-2019 but have paid the piper since, missing the postseason six straight years. They’ve been dreadful the past three seasons, totaling just 61 wins – four less than Boston had in 2022-23 alone – but the draft capital accumulated has started to pay off. Boosted by the ascension to stardom of 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks have spent much of the season in the playoff race, but they enter today’s game six points back of the final wild card spot.  

Scoring leaders: Celebrini clearly had talent when he was taken first overall, but even the Sharks have to be thrilled with the astronomical leap he’s taken this year, as the 19-year-old was named to the Canadian Olympic team in the midst of a season in which his 35-61-96 line has him fourth in the league in points. Fellow young standout Will Smith, who just turned 21 after going fourth overall in the 2023 draft, adds a 21-26-47 line in 57 games. Alexander Wennberg (14-31-45), Tyler Toffoli (18-26-44) and Wiliam Eklund (12-31-43) follow in scoring.  

In net: A first-round pick in 2020 by Nashville, youngster Yaroslav Askarov leads the team with 41 starts, with the talented Russian posting a 19-17-3 record, 3.52 GAA and .887 save percentage. Ohio native Alex Nedeljkovic is 13-13-4 with a 3.00 GAA and .893 SV%, and he’s 6-1-3 all-time vs. Columbus.  

What's new: With all the young talent on hand, San Jose has been a fun team to watch this season, but the Sharks’ playoff hopes are on life support as the team has lost six in a row after Thursday’s 2-1 overtime loss at St. Louis. San Jose has allowed at least five goals in four of those six games, as defense has been the team’s Achilles’ heel all season. With Celebrini, Smith and Eklund leading the way, the Sharks are set up for future success, but it will take a rally to play postseason hockey this year. 

Trending: San Jose took a 5-2 victory in the season series opener Jan. 6, but the Blue Jackets have won four in a row at Nationwide Arena. 

Former CBJ: Now in his 12th NHL season, Wennberg signed a three-year contract extension in January and seems to have found a home in his second campaign in San Jose.