Gameday Preview: Blue Jackets vs. Blackhawks

The Details

BLUE JACKETS vs. BLACKHAWKS
GAME INFO
COLUMBUS: 10-22-2, 8th in Metropolitan
CHICAGO: 8-22-4, 8th in Central
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 1 p.m. ET
BUY TICKETS
New Year's Eve game presented by New Amsterdam Vodka
BROADCAST INFO
TV:
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AUDIO:
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BY THE NUMBERS
CBJ Player Statistics
Blackhawks Player Statistics
NHL Standings
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What They're Saying

Adam Boqvist hasn't played in Nationwide Arena since suffering a broken foot Oct. 25.
The Blue Jackets defenseman will get that chance one last time in 2022 today against his former team, and Boqvist said he is hoping the Blue Jackets can end the year on a high note against the Blackhawks.
"It would be nice to get a win and finish the year in a good way," he said. "Especially coming home, playing in front of the fans again, I haven't done it in a long time so it's going to be a lot of fun. I feel like we owe (the fans) a few wins here. We can start off with that (today)."
A win would snap a seven-game losing skid for Columbus, with all but one of those coming away from home. The team record for consecutive losses is eight, a fate experienced three times in franchise history and last in 2015, so the Blue Jackets would like to avoid going down in the record books.
To do so, they will need to find their scoring punch. After scoring 13 goals in three games in early December, including six in the squad's last win Dec. 9 vs. Calgary, Columbus has just 10 tallies in the last seven games. As a result, the Blue Jackets have had the lead in just one of those games, a 2-1 advantage on Philadelphia on Dec. 20 that lasted 1:23.
"Trailing hockey is chasing," head coach Brad Larsen said. "You're chasing the game a little bit, right? You get the lead, you usually feel better and you settle in. Everybody has a little more confidence. Finding ways to get the lead would be real important. If we could find a way to do that, it would give guys an opportunity to take a breath and then the margin gets a little bit bigger.
"Every time you're chasing it, sometimes it can seem like a big hill to climb when you're not scoring goals, so we have to figure out how to get the lead."

Know The Foe: Chicago Blackhawks

Head coach: Luke Richardson (1st season)
Season Stats:Goals per game: 2.24 (32nd) | Scoring defense: 3.71 (29th) | PP: 21.7 percent (17th) | PK: 72.6 percent (26th)
The narrative: The Blackhawks knew it would be rough this year after stripping essentially everything to the studs with the offseason trades of Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach as well as the departures of Brandon Hagel and Dominik Kubalik. While Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane remain -- for now -- the Blackhawks dynasty that produced Stanley Cups in 2010, '13 and '15 is now cycling into what appears to be a long rebuild.
2022-23 leaders:A CBJ killer coming off yet another three-point game against the Jackets, Kane still remains a player who can change the game with the puck on his stick -- and on the power play, where he has 13 assists -- and leads the way with a 6-20-26 line. Former Blue Jacket Max Domi is tied with Toews for the team lead with 11 goals and is second with 24 points, while Toews has 20 points. Taylor Raddysh also has potted 10 goals.
In net, four different goalies have seen time already this season, with Arvid Soderblom leading the way with 15 games. He was recently sent to AHL Rockford, though, and Alex Stalock (4-3-1, 2.69, .918 in nine games) will get the start against Columbus.
What's new: The Blackhawks' win over Columbus before Christmas is just one of two that the team has in the month of December, and in all, Chicago is 2-17-1 in its last 20 games. The Blackhawks have been outscored 85-38 (an average of 4.25-1.90) in that span, and the team has lost back-to-back games to Carolina and St. Louis after beating Columbus.
Trending: Chicago has had the upper hand the last three seasons, as Columbus is 3-5-5 in the series since 2019-20, while the Blackhawks have won seven straight in Nationwide Arena.
Former CBJ:There are plenty of familiar faces there, including Seth Jones, who has played in 24 games and posted a 1-9-10 line and minus-23 rating this season. Domi spent the last two seasons with the Blue Jackets before being traded at the deadline last year, while Richardson played three seasons with the Jackets and was a team captain. Jack Johnson is also on the squad, having posted four assists in 34 games.

3 Keys to the Game

Stay out of the box: Chicago is most dangerous on the power play, so playing a clean game takes on added importance. The Blackhawks have just 43 goals this year at 5-on-5, worst in the NHL.
Holiday spirit: Columbus wants to finish the calendar year off on a high note, and there should be a good crowd in Nationwide Arena to help make it happen.
Get to the hard areas: The Blackhawks have struggled defensively this year, while Columbus is in a rut when it comes to scoring goals. The best way to get on the board is to get to the net.

3 Stats to Know

• After posting 1-2-3 in the last two games, defenseman Marcus Bjork leads NHL rookie blueliners in points per game (minimum 10 games) and ranks tied for second in goals with 3-7-10 in 21 appearances (0.48 points per game).
• Johnny Gaudreau ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in assists since Nov. 10 with 5-21-26 in 22 contests. With 2-11-13 in 13 December games, he is two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most assists in the month (Artemi Panarin, 13 in 2017). Gaudreau also ranks tied for third in the NHL in assists and points for the 2022 calendar year with 38-79-117 in 87 contests with Calgary and Columbus.
• Milestone watch: Jack Roslovic is three points from 100 for his CBJ career (37-60-97, 160 GP). … Goalie Joonas Korpisalo is four games from 200 for his NHL career (80-73-22, 196 GP).

Who's Hot

Kent Johson has an 8-8-16 line on the season, placing him fourth among NHL rookies in goals and tied for ninth in points this season. … Joonas Korpisalo has posted a .955 save percentage (63 saves on 66 shots against) with a 1.58 GAA over his last three appearances since Dec. 9. … Rookie wing Kirill Marchenko has goals in two of the last three games and four goals in 11 games since making his NHL debut. … Roslovic has a 2-10-12 line in the last 13 games. ... CBJ rookies have a 17-21-38 line this year, the most goals and fourth in points among rookies on NHL teams. … Columbus has three wins in overtime this year, and Vladislav Gavrikov has scored two of the winning goals and assisted on the other.

This Day in CBJ History

Dec. 31, 2003: Columbus dresses all four of the franchise's first-round picks -- D Rostislav Klesla (2000), G Pascal Leclaire (2001), LW Rick Nash (2002) and RW Nikolai Zherdev (2003) -- for the first time ever in a 1-0 loss at San Jose.
Dec. 31, 2007: Rick Nash notches his second career hat trick to reach the 20-goal mark on the season and push the Blue Jackets to a 4-2 victory over Edmonton.
Dec. 31, 2008: Steve Mason stops 27 shots in a 2-0 shutout victory at Anaheim to notch his third shutout in a row and the fifth of his rookie season.
Dec. 31, 2010: Jakub Voracek scores an unassisted goal at 2:06 of overtime to push Columbus to a 4-3 victory over Ottawa in Nationwide Arena.
Dec. 31, 2016: The Blue Jackets win their 15th straight game, while snapping the Wild's 12-game winning streak, with a 4-2 win at Minnesota in the first game in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues to feature two teams on winning streaks of at least 12 games.
Dec. 31, 2019: In a memorable New Year's Eve Game, Zach Werenski notches his first career hat trick and Elvis Merzlikins earns his first career NHL victory with 36 saves in a 4-1 triumph over the Florida Panthers in Sergei Bobrovsky's return to Nationwide Arena.

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)
Johnny Gaudreau - Kent Johnson - Kirill Marchenko
Gustav Nyquist - Jack Roslovic - Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson - Cole Sillinger - Carson Meyer
Liam Foudy - Sean Kuraly - Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov - Marcus Bjork
Tim Berni - Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratches: Patrik Laine (illness), Andrew Peeke, Daniil Tarasov (upper body, day to day)
Injured reserve:Nick Blankenburg (ankle, out six to eight weeks as of Nov. 11); Boone Jenner (thumb surgery, out four weeks as of Dec. 19); Yegor Chinakhov (high ankle sprain, out six weeks as of Dec. 21); 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:The Blue Jackets retooled the lines for practice Friday, while Bayreuther returns to the lineup in place of Peeke, who is a healthy scratch. Merzlikins will dress and back up Korpisalo, who makes a second straight start.