Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets at Stars

The Details

BLUE JACKETS at STARS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 17-34-4, 8th in Metropolitan
DALLAS: 30-14-12, 1st in Central
AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, 6 p.m. ET
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BY THE NUMBERS
CBJ Player Statistics
Stars Player Statistics
NHL Standings
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Player Day of Service

What They're Saying

The Blue Jackets played Washington on Jan. 31 and then scattered across North America -- mostly to warm climates -- for the All-Star break as well as the league's mandated bye week.
Based on the tans some returned with, there was fun in the sun, but there also was a dedication to being ready to get back to action upon arrival.
Columbus is just 2-2-0 since play resumed last weekend, but all four games were against teams already above the 30-win plateau for the season who are in the top two spots in their respective divisions. The Blue Jackets also could have gotten at least a point after one of the losses had it not ceded the game-deciding goal in the last two seconds Tuesday vs. New Jersey.
The Jackets have been hanging in there with some of the best teams in the league since the break, and defenseman Erik Gudbranson said that was by design.
"We needed that bye week to step away and not think about hockey," Gudbranson said. "I think it did us really well. We came back energized. We came back excited to see each other. There's an understanding of where we're at in the standings. It's not fun, but we have a group understanding what we do in these last 31 games and what is left to the season after the bye week is going to carry over directly into next year. We better do it right because it's extraordinarily important.
For head coach Brad Larsen, the formula hasn't been fancy. Columbus has just played hard, won battles, played with structure and gotten solid goaltending when needed.
"They're doing it in fives," Larsen said. "They're committing. You see guys that are going the extra mile blocking shots and trying to take away the dangerous areas. And then when we need a save, we've been getting it, so that's been huge."

Know The Foe: Dallas Stars

Head coach:Peter DeBoer (First season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.25 (13th) | Scoring defense: 2.52 (2nd) | PP: 23.1 percent (11th) | PK: 83.8 percent (2nd)
The narrative:The Stars have been a mercurial bunch the past few seasons, making the Stanley Cup Final in the 2020 summer bubble, then missing the playoffs a year later in the shortened season. Dallas returned to postseason play last year but fell in the opening round to Calgary in a seven-game battle. But this squad could be ready to take the next step, as DeBoer has one of the league's best defensive teams thanks to an excellent defensive corps and the emergence of Jake Oettinger as one of the NHL's best netminders.
2022-23 leaders:It also helps that Jason Robertson has emerged as one of the top players in the league, as the 23-year-old Californian is tied for fifth in the NHL with 34 goals and adds 37 assists for 71 points, which ranks seventh in the league. Roope Hintz (23-27-50) and the ageless Joe Pavelski (14-36-50) are second on the squad in points, while Jamie Benn has 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points. Miro Heiskanen leads the blue line with 41 points including 34 helpers.
Oettinger has built on a playoff campaign in which he nearly stole the series against Calgary, starting 40 games thus far and posting a 2.20 GAA, .926 save percentage and 23-7-9 record. He's ninth in the NHL in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes.
What's new: The Stars come in having earned points in 13 of the last 16 games, but six of those are overtime losses (7-3-6). Dallas has allowed just 34 goals in those contests, an average of 2.13 per game. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Stars' season as the team's health. In sharp comparison to the Blue Jackets, just one player (forward Joel Kiviranta) is injured, and the Stars have played just 26 players all season (Columbus is at 35).
Trending: Columbus had won eight in a row going into the 2021 season, when the teams shared the Central Division. Since then, Dallas has had the upper hand, as the Blue Jackets are 4-6-1 in the series.
Former CBJ: None.

3 Keys to the Game

Stick with it: The Blue Jackets just beat a Winnipeg team that is just as strong as Dallas defensively by sticking with the plan, keeping it tight and getting a late winner. It will take a similar effort here.
Laine line: Getting one of the NHL's streakiest goal scorers off the schneid the other night was big, as Patrik Laine ended a seven-game scoreless streak against Winnipeg. Can he turn it into a red-hot run against a team he's owned (19 goals in 27 career games)?
Goaltending: It's amazing what can happen when your netminders are on their game. Strong performances from both CBJ goalies have keyed the resent surge.

3 Stats to Know

• Columbus is in for a battle for the team's goal lead down the stretch. Captain Boone Jenner has 16 on the season, with Laine and Johnny Gaudreau one behind and Kirill Marchenko lurking at 14.
• Marchenko's 14 goals are the most in franchise history for a player in his first 32 NHL games. They also are tied for fifth-most ever for a CBJ rookie with Sonny Milano (2017-18), and he is second in the league among rookie goal scorers behind only Seattle's Matty Beniers (18).
• Milestone watch: Mathieu Olivier is two games from 100 in his NHL career (6-10-16, 98 GP). … Gavin Bayreuther is five games from 100 for his NHL career (5-16-21, 95 GP). … Gudbranson is five games from 700 for his NHL career (28-76-104, 695 GP).

Who's Hot

Joonas Korpisalo has a .919 save percentage in his last 14 appearances. … Adam Boqvist has a 1-11-12 line in the last 15 games. … Laine has 6-12-18 in the last 16 games. … With Marchenko (14 goals) and Kent Johnson (12) both in double digits, this is the third time in CBJ history that two rookies have at least 10 goals. The previous instances were 2000-01 (Serge Aubin and David Vyborny, each with 13) and 2016-17 (Pierre-Luc Dubois with 20 and Sonny Milano with 14). ... Johnson's 27 points (12-15-27) are the 10th-most ever for a CBJ rookie. He ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in goals and points among rookies. … CBJ rookies lead all NHL teams in goals and place second in points with 33-33-66 in 55 games.

This Day in CBJ History

Feb. 18, 2011: Columbus posts a 4-3 victory at Chicago to notch its sixth straight road victory. Matt Calvert, Antoine Vermette, Derek MacKenzie and Anton Stralman all score in the win.
Feb. 18, 2021: Elvis Merzlikins notches his first shutout of the 56-game season in a 3-0 blanking of Nashville at Nationwide Arena. Merzlikins makes 32 saves in the game.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Kirill Marchenko - Boone Jenner - Patrik Laine
Kent Johnson - Cole Sillinger - Lane Pederson
Liam Foudy - Jack Roslovic - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Tim Berni - Erik Gudbranson
Nick Blankenburg - Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratches:Johnny Gaudreau (lower body injury, day to day), Vladislav Gavrikov (trade-related)
Injured reserve: Gustav Nyquist (upper body injury, out indefinitely); Yegor Chinakhov (high ankle sprain, out six weeks as of Dec. 21); Carson Meyer (oblique, out six to eight weeks as of Jan. 11); Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Jakub Voracek (upper body, out indefinitely); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report:Gaudreau's run of 349 consecutive games is snapped, ending the third-longest active streak. Pederson will make his CBJ debut while Korpisalo gets a second straight start in net after stopping 37 of 38 shots against Winnipeg.