Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets at Golden Knights

The Details

BLUE JACKETS at GOLDEN KNIGHTS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 21-40-7, 8th in Metropolitan
VEGAS: 42-21-6, 1st in Pacific
T-MOBILE ARENA, 4 p.m. ET
BROADCAST INFO
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BY THE NUMBERS
CBJ Player Statistics
Golden Knights Player Statistics
NHL Standings
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What They're Saying

As the season has gone on, the Blue Jackets have become a better team at handling adversity in games, and they did it quite a few times in Friday's loss at Anaheim.
Four times in the game, Columbus fell behind by a goal, and four times, they battled back to tie it. But the fifth time wasn't the charm, as Anaheim scored the game-winning goal with 2:37 to go and then added a pair of empty-net goals to take a 7-4 victory against the Blue Jackets.
"We just never got the go-ahead goal," said Cole Sillinger, who snapped a 45-game streak without a goal in the game. "We did a good job of getting ourselves back into it and getting some momentum. We threw 40-plus shots at them tonight and their goaltender played well. There were just a couple of little breaks on our end that were costly."
The loss dropped the Blue Jackets to 3-5-3 in their last 11 games and 1-2-0 on the road trip. Columbus remains in the midst of a stretch of five games away from home in eight days, and energy has been hard to come by, which means the team has to play a smart game today against the Golden Knights.
"Just be simple," Nick Blankenburg said. "That's a big thing. It's been a long road trip for us so far. We've played three in the last few days. We have an early one on Sunday, so just be simple and continue to get pucks deep and track back hard."

Know The Foe: Vegas Golden Knights

Head coach:Bruce Cassidy (First season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 3.19 (16th) | Scoring defense: 2.78 (8th) | PP: 20.8 percent (20th) | PK: 79.3 percent (17th)
The narrative:The Golden Knights shook things up after last year's disappointing season left the team short of a postseason berth for the first time in team history, and it's fair to say those changes have worked as the squad is on pace to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But even with a rotating cast of characters in net -- Vegas has started five different netminders this season -- defense has led the way for a squad that has made a number of changes up front this campaign.
2022-23 leaders:Chandler Stephenson has continued to be one of the more underrated players in the league, with the center leading the Golden Knights in points with 53 thanks to 13 goals and 40 assists. Jack Eichel's first full season in Vegas has resulted in a 23-28-51 line, while there's plenty of depth scoring in Reilly Smith (23-26-49), Jonathan Marchessault (22-26-48) and William Karlsson (13-32-45).
In net, Logan Thompson (35 starts) and Adin Hill (25 starts) have started the majority of games, but both have been on the shelf with a lower-body injury. Jonathan Quick was added from the Blue Jackets at the deadline and is 4-1-0 in five games with a 2.98 GAA and .904 save percentage, while 23-year-old Czech Jiri Patera is also on the roster.
What's new:Injuries have been a major storyline of the season, especially in net, where Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit already out before the more recent maladies hit the team. Mark Stone (back), William Carrier (lower body), Keegan Kolesar (upper body) and Nicolas Roy (lower body) also have missed games of late. Still, Vegas is playing well with a 13-3-2 record in the past 18 games, and forwards Ivan Barbashev and Teddy Bleuger were added before the deadline to add depth.
Trending:Vegas posted a 3-2 win in a shootout in the matchup between the teams Nov. 28 in Nationwide Arena. Columbus is now 5-3-1 all-time in the series, including 2-2-0 on the Strip.
Former CBJ:Karlsson and Marchessault have been in Vegas since the beginning and continue to be key cogs in the attack, while Kolesar was a CBJ draft pick who was dealt for the pick to acquire Alexandre Texier but never skated with the Jackets.

3 Keys to the Game

Buckle down: So far the Blue Jackets have allowed 16 goals on the road trip. Even taking out the empty-netters on Friday night, it's 14 tallies in three games, so the team has to be tighter defensively.
Start on time: The early local time will be a bit odd for the Blue Jackets, who don't play many matinees on the season. Especially after an off day, Columbus will have to be ready to go.
Take advantage of the man advantage: The Blue Jackets have been racking up power-play goals of late, something that will be a good sign if it continues.

3 Stats to Know

• With 17 goals and two assists on the season following his tally Thursday at Los Angeles, Kirill Marchenko is on pace for a potentially historic season. Only two players in NHL history -- Ottawa's Cy Denneny in 1923-24 and Florida's Brandon Pirri in 2014-15), with matching 22-2-24 lines -- have finished a season with at least 17 goals and only two assists.
• With Michael Hutchinson's assist against Anaheim, the Blue Jackets have three goalies with points for the first time ever. He joins Daniil Tarasov, who got an assist Tuesday in San Jose, and Elvis Merzlikins.
• Milestone watch: Laine is two goals from 200 for his NHL career (198-177-375, 460 GP).

Who's Hot

Now with a team-best 23 goals on the season after scoring four in the last four games, Boone Jenner has consecutive 20-goal campaigns and three in his CBJ career. He joins Vyborny, Rick Nash, R.J. Umberger, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand as the only Blue Jackets with three or more such seasons. … Johnny Gaudreau has a 2-6-8 mark in the last four games. … Gavin Bayreuther has three assists in the last three contests. … The Blue Jackets rank fourth in the NHL in power-play percentage since Jan. 21, converting on 17 of 62 opportunities over the last 22 contests (27.4 percent). … Patrik Laine has a 5-5-10 line in the last eight contests. He also has a 6-7-13 line in the last 10 games and a 13-19-32 line in the last 29 games. … Marchenko's 17 goals are tied for second-most ever for a CBJ rookie with Rick Nash (2002-23), and he is fourth in the league among rookie goal scorers. … With Marchenko and Kent Johnson (14) both in double digits, this is the third time in CBJ history that two rookies have at least 10 goals. … Johnson has 1-4-5 in the last five games, and his 14-20-34 line places him in the top 10 in team history among rookies in goals (tied for sixth) and points (tied for fifth). He ranks sixth in the NHL in goals and is tied for fourth in points among rookies. … CBJ rookies lead all NHL teams in goals and place second in points with 43-46-89 in 68 games.

This Day in CBJ History

March 19, 2001: David Vyborny scores the second penalty shot goal in team history during its inaugural season, beating Tomas Vokoun with 1:59 left to play, but the Blue Jackets still suffer a 2-1 loss in Nationwide Arena. Vyborny becomes the first NHL rookie ever to score a pair of penalty shot goals in one season.
March 19, 2002: Columbus trades the first captain in team history, sending defenseman Lyle Odelein to Chicago for defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and a second-round pick in the 2003 draft.
March 19, 2016: First-year coach John Tortorella becomes the 26th NHL head man to reach the 1,000-game mark, skippering the Blue Jackets to a 6-3 win vs. New Jersey.
March 19, 2017: Columbus scores two penalty shot goals in the same game for the first and only time in team history during a 4-1 win at New Jersey. Lukas Sedlak beat Cory Schneider in the first period, then Brandon Dubinsky did the same in the second to help pace the CBJ victory. In the victory, Columbus reached the 100-point mark and clinched the third playoff berth in team history.
March 19, 2022: Patrik Laine scores his 19th goal in a 22-game stretch as the Blue Jackets claim a 5-4 win over St. Louis in Nationwide Arena. Emil Bemstrom, Gustav Nyquist, Sean Kuraly and Jakub Voracek also tallied in the win.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Patrik Laine - Kirill Marchenko
Kent Johnson - Boone Jenner - Jack Roslovic
Liam Foudy - Cole Sillinger - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Lane Pederson - Mathieu Olivier
Nick Blankenburg - Erik Gudbranson
Tim Berni - Andrew Peeke
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Daniil Tarasov
Michael Hutchinson
Scratches:Sean Kuraly (oblique, out six weeks as of March 3), Elvis Merzlikins (returned to Latvia to be with family)
Injured reserve:Jake Bean (shoulder, out four to six months after surgery in November); Zach Werenski (shoulder surgery, out for season); Justin Danforth (shoulder surgery, out for season)
Roster Report: The Blue Jackets used a number of different line combinations throughout the Anaheim game and will continue experimenting with things today as Vincent said Patrik Laine will play in the center position today. Tarasov will get the start in net.