Scratches:\u00a0Dmitri Voronkov,\u00a0Miles Wood,\u00a0Jake Christiansen, Egor\u00a0Zamula\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as of Jan. 8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roster Report:\u00a0The Blue\u00a0Jackets were off\u00a0Wednesday and will hold a pregame morning skate ahead of the contest vs. the Canadiens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This Day in CBJ History<\/p>\n
March 26, 2008: Fredrik\u00a0Norrena\u00a0earns his second shutout in nine days, stopping all 17 shots in a 4-0 victory vs. Chicago.\u00a0Clay Wilson leads the way offensively with a goal and an assist, while Joakim Lindstr\u00f6m, Michael Peca and David\u00a0Vyborny\u00a0score.\u00a0<\/p>\n
March 26, 2009: The Blue Jackets continue their march toward the team\u2019s first-ever playoff berth with a 5-0 win vs. Calgary at Nationwide Arena\u00a0in which Steve Mason earns the 10th\u00a0shutout of his rookie season. Jason Williams scored two goals while Rick Nash and Kristian\u00a0Huselius\u00a0each\u00a0post\u00a0four assists. Columbus also set a franchise record with 52 penalty minutes in the second period, including fighting majors for Jared Boll and Rostislav\u00a0Klesla\u00a0as well as misconducts for Boll, Kris\u00a0Russell\u00a0and Jake Voracek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
March 26, 2013: Sergei Bobrovsky stops all 34 shots he sees in regulation and overtime, but Vancouver wins the shootout to take a 1-0 victory.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0the second such instance in team history, as Mason had stopped 45 shots\u00a0in a 1-0 shootout loss to Detroit on April 9, 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n
March 26, 2019:\u00a0This time Bobrovsky gets the win, posting his second straight shutout as the Blue Jackets earn a crucial 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders amid its playoff run. Cam Atkinson posts a goal and an assist, while Ryan\u00a0Dzingel,\u00a0Artemi Panarin and Oliver\u00a0Bjorkstrand\u00a0also\u00a0tally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Numbers Game<\/p>\n
Columbus is 20-3-4 since Jan. 11 and leads the NHL in points percentage (.815) in that span. … The Blue Jackets have allowed two goals or less in seven of the last eight games. … Zach\u00a0Werenski has moved into fifth place in CBJ single-season annals with 77 points this year. With 21 goals and 56 assists \u2013 three short of tying the franchise record \u2013 he is third among NHL defensemen in goals and second in points. Werenski has points in 28 of his last 34 games (12-35-47) as well as 39 of the last 48 (17-49-66). He leads NHL defensemen in multipoint games (25, tied for seventh overall in NHL) and has tied Artemi Panarin\u2019s team record set in 2018-19. … Adam Fantilli has eight goals in the last 15 games and posted a 9-14-23 line in the last 21 games. He has points in seven of the last eight games (3-6-9). … Kirill Marchenko notched his 100th career assist and 200th career point Tuesday vs. Philadelphia. He has a 7-11-18 line in the last 19 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 27 games as well as a 7-18-25 line in the last 22 contests, placing him 10th in the NHL in points in that span. … Jet Greaves is 12-1-2 in his last 16 appearances with a 2.24 GAA, while Elvis Merzlikins is 8-2-2 in his last 13 with a 2.50 GAA. Greaves has a 1.59 GAA and .934 save percentage in his last five games as well. … Mathieu Olivier has 11 goals in the last 20 games, tying him for eighth in the NHL since Jan. 26. \u2026 Blue Jackets defensemen have scored 53 goals this season, the most in the NHL and a new franchise record. \u2026 Columbus has scored first in 43 of 71 games overall, tied with Washington and Colorado for the most in the NHL. …\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Know The Foe: Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n
Head coach:\u00a0Martin St. Louis\u00a0(Fifth\u00a0season)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Team stats: Goals per game:\u00a03.53\u00a0(3rd) | Scoring defense:\u00a03.21\u00a0(25th) | PP:\u00a025.0\u00a0percent (3rd) | PK:\u00a076.3\u00a0percent (27th)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The narrative:\u00a0Boosted by an underrated captain in Nick Suzuki and\u00a0stocked with\u00a0young offensive talents like Juraj\u00a0Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov, Montreal followed three straight\u00a0last-place\u00a0finishes in the Atlantic Division by edging out the Blue Jackets for the final Eastern Conference wild card spot a year ago.\u00a0Standing three points clear of the playoff line\u00a0this year, the\u00a0Habs\u00a0appear to be on a collision course with playoff hockey again, much to the delight of\u00a0one of the most passionate cities in the NHL.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scoring leaders:\u00a0Coming off a career-best\u00a089 point\u00a0season, Suzuki\u00a0is set to pass that mark as his\u00a024-62-86 line\u00a0ties him for sixth in the NHL in assists and eighth in points.\u00a0Caufield has\u00a0been one of the league’s top snipers this year, placing second in the league with a career-high 44 goals among his 76 points.\u00a0Just 22, Hutson won the Calder Trophy a year ago and\u00a0is sixth this year among league defensemen in scoring with 69 points (11 goals, 58 assists).\u00a0Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, has a 28-35-63 line, while rookie Ivan Demidov\u00a0is second among league rookies with 54 points (15 goals, 39 assists).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In net:\u00a0With the struggles of\u00a0Sam\u00a0Montembeault, Montreal has turned to a pair of youngsters in net in Ohio State product Jakub Dobes and rookie Jacob Fowler.\u00a0Dobes leads the team with 34 starts and is 23-8-4 with a 2.88 GAA and .896 save percentage, while the 21-year-old Fowler\u00a0is 6-5-2 with a 2.72 GAA and .899 save percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What’s\u00a0new:\u00a0With so many skilled young players, the Canadiens\u00a0are able to\u00a0be the most exciting team in the league one night and frustrating the next, but\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0no doubt\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0a dangerous foe. Sitting in third in the Atlantic Division, Montreal is closing in on a playoff spot, thanks in part to consecutive home wins over the Islanders (7-3) and Hurricanes (5-2).\u00a0Caufield\u00a0in particular is\u00a0on a tear, posting seven goals in the last six games including a hat trick against the Isles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trending:\u00a0The first game of the season series was all the way back on Nov. 17, as the Blue Jackets won a 4-3 final in a shootout.\u00a0Columbus has lost four\u00a0straight\u00a0in Centre Bell over the last three seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Former CBJ: Now in his sixth season in Montreal, Josh Anderson has a 13-9-22 line in 62 games, while\u00a0Alexandre Texier joined the team midseason and has eight goals and 19 points in 38 contests. Patrik\u00a0Laine\u00a0has\u00a0played just five games, none since October since suffering an injury early in the campaign, while St. Louis served as a CBJ coaching consultant during the 2018-19 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scratches:\u00a0Dmitri Voronkov,\u00a0Miles Wood,\u00a0Jake Christiansen, Egor\u00a0Zamula\u00a0\u00a0 Injured Reserve: D Brendan Smith (knee surgery, out three to four months as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-561538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}