TuneIn_16x9_STATIC (0-00-03-27)

BLUE JACKETS (20-17-6) vs. FLYERS (19-20-5), 7 PM, NATIONWIDE ARENA

COLUMBUS, 4th in Metropolitan
PHILADELPHIA, 6th in Metropolitan

One of the stories of the season for the Blue Jackets has been the fact the cannon has been getting quite a workout.

Columbus leads the NHL with 92 home goals and is tied for first with 102 goals at 5-on-5, and their 3.40 goals per game are fifth in the league. In addition, Columbus has scored at least six goals 10 times in just 43 games this season, most in the NHL and one shy of a franchise record (2018-19).

But the reality is the puck is not always going to go in the net, and sometimes you have to find a way to win a low-scoring hockey game. The Blue Jackets did just that on Saturday night in St. Louis, building a 2-0 lead and holding it until the final seconds before leaving the Gateway to the West with a 2-1 victory over the Blues.

Head coach Dean Evason will take a win any way he can get it, but he seemed particularly proud in his team’s ability to grind out a victory.

“Everybody wants to score goals, and we’ve talked about the fact that we feel that we can score goals with our skill set,” Evason said. “But we have to really, really bear down and commit to keeping it out of our net. They’ve done that.”

The commitment was obvious as the Blue Jackets blocked 23 shots, their fourth straight game with at least that number. It wasn’t always perfect, but Columbus defended well, and when pucks did get through, rookie goalie Jet Greaves did the rest.

“It’s just consistent habits, knowing when you’re up like that, 2-0 or 2-1, to not force things and just having timely puck management, getting pucks deep and getting in lanes and having good sticks,” Cole Sillinger said. “It’s just all those little details that as we’ve played more hockey games here, we’re getting more consistent and it’s showing.”

The win extended the Blue Jackets’ season-best winning streak to four games, and overall the team is 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. They’ve also won six of the last seven home games as they return to Nationwide Arena for a pair of games this week starting with tonight against the Flyers.

Know The Foe: Philadelphia Flyers

Head coach: John Tortorella (Third season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.02 (15th) | Scoring defense: 3.45 (29th) | PP: 16.8 percent (27th) | PK: 78.3 percent (20th)

The narrative: It’s year three of the Tortorella era, and the fiery former Blue Jackets coach is trying to get the most out of a young team. His tenure hasn’t yet yielded a playoff berth – the team came agonizingly close a season ago but faltered late to miss the postseason for the fourth straight year – and Philadelphia is on the outside looking in this season as well. Calder Trophy candidate Matvei Michkov highlights the young talent on the roster, but they haven’t been able to outscore their mistakes enough this season.

Team leaders: Travis Konecny has blossomed into one of the league’s more consistent goal scorers, posting 30-plus tallies each of the past two years and staying on pace to do it again this year with team-best totals of 20 goals and 50 points. The wing is also a CBJ killer, posting 17 goals in 28 career games against the Blue Jackets and a 2-3-5 line this year in two games. Then there’s rookie sensation Matvei Michkov, who is firmly in the rookie of the year mix with a 13-18-31 line that places him tied atop all NHL first-year players in goals and second in points. Owen Tippett (12), Tyson Foerster (12) and Morgan Frost (10) have also reached double digits in goals.

It's been a scramble in net at times, with Samuel Ersson starting 21 games, Ivan Fedotov getting 12 starts and Aleksei Kolosov getting the nod 11 times. Ersson (11-7-2, 2.87 GAA, .887 save percentage) was in net last night’s win over Florida, so the Jackets will likely see either the 6-foot-7 Fedotov (4-5-2, 3.40, .874) or the rookie Kolosov (4-8-1, 3.45, .870).

What's new: Philadelphia got off to a tough 1-5-1 start the season, righted the ship some, and then has slumped to a 5-8-1 record in the last 14 games. Defense has been the major culprit, with the Flyers allowing 52 goals for an average of 3.71 per game in that span, but Philly is coming off consecutive wins over Anaheim and Florida. Tortorella has gone through his usual motivational techniques including a number of scratches to key players, but the Flyers are still trying to find the mix that will lead to consistent wins.

Trending: Philadelphia has won each of the two matchups between the teams this year, taking a 5-3 win Dec. 10 in Nationwide Arena before battling back from three different third-period deficits to beat the Jackets by a 5-4 score in overtime in Philly on Dec. 21.

Former CBJ: There are no former CBJ players on the roster, but Tortorella and assistant Brad Shaw spent six seasons with the Blue Jackets and led the team to four playoff berths.

Projected CBJ Lineup (Subject to change)

LW 10 Dmitri Voronkov
C 19 Adam Fantilli
RW 86 Kirill Marchenko
LW 21 James van Riemsdyk
C 4 Cole Sillinger
RW 91 Kent Johnson
LW 27 Zach Aston-Reese
C 65 Luca Del Bel Belluz
RW 24 Mathieu Olivier
LW 82 Mikael Pyyhtia
C 7 Sean Kuraly
RW 62 Kevin Labanc
LD 8 Zach Werenski
RD 15 Dante Fabbro
G 40 Daniil Tarasov (starter)
LD 5 Denton Mateychuk
RD 9 Ivan Provorov
G 90 Elvis Merzlikins
LD 2 Jake Christiansen
RD 78 Damon Severson

Scratches: Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson

Injured reserve, Injured/Non-Roster list: Sean Monahan (upper body), Justin Danforth (lower body), Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Boone Jenner (upper body)

Roster Report: The Blue Jackets will use the same skater lineup – except in goal, as Jet Greaves was returned to Cleveland – as Saturday’s win. Tarasov will get the start after his conditioning stint in Cleveland this weekend.

The Numbers Game

With 48 points, Zach Werenski has the most ever for a CBJ player through the team’s first 43 games of a season, while Kirill Marchenko (47) is tied for second. Artemi Panarin previously held the franchise record with 47 in 2018-19. … Werenski has a 10-28-38 line in the last 28 games to place third in the NHL in scoring in that span and has 16 points (2-14-16) in the past nine games as well as a 16-game home point streak, longest in the NHL since Ray Bourque in 1992-93. His average ice time of 26:33 leads all NHL players, and he’s tied for first among league defensemen in goals (13) and second in points on the season. ... Marchenko has an 8-12-20 line in the last 14 games and 31 points in the last 24 (12-19-31). ... Dmitri Voronkov has 18 points (10-8-18) in the last 13 games and multiple goals in four of the last nine games. He leads the NHL with nine goals since Dec. 19. ... Also since Dec. 19, Werenski is tied for second in the NHL with 17 points, and both Voronkov and Marchenko are tied for fifth with 16. ... Adam Fantilli has a career-best five-game point streak (3-3-6), tied for the third longest ever for a CBJ player under age 20. ... Rookie center Luca Del Bel Belluz is the second player in CBJ history to begin his career with a three-game point streak after Werenski in 2016. ... Columbus has power-play goals in 13 of the last 17 games (16 for 45, 35.6 percent) and is now ninth in the NHL for the season in power-play percentage at 24.1. ... Blue Jackets defensemen have 28 goals this season, most in the NHL. ... Cole Sillinger is three points from 100 in his NHL career.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 14, 2006: David Vyborny scores his second goal of the game on the power play past Roberto Luongo with just 12 seconds left in overtime to give Columbus a 5-4 win at Florida.

Jan. 14, 2009: The Blue Jackets acquire center Jason Williams from Atlanta for Clay Wilson and San Jose’s sixth-round pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. Williams would go on to notch a 12-17-29 line in 39 games as Columbus made its first playoff appearance.

Jan. 14, 2020: Elvis Merzlikins stops 34 shots to earn his second consecutive shutout as the Blue Jackets take a 3-0 win vs. Boston in Nationwide Arena. Alexander Wennberg, Kevin Stenlund and Riley Nash score as the Blue Jackets improve to 12-2-4 in their last 18 games.

Jan. 14, 2021: Columbus kicks off its 20th anniversary season against former Central Division rival Nashville with a 3-1 loss. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the club played its entire 56-game schedule against Central Division opponents Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay.

Jan. 14, 2023: Patrik Laine notches a hat trick, Vladislav Gavrikov also scores and the Blue Jackets withstand a three-goal third-period rally by Detroit to take a 4-3 victory in the Motor City.

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